


Nightingale

by anon7912



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Mob, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Bitchy grad student Lee Hyunjae (lol), Blow Jobs, Crime boss Lee Juyeon, Dry Orgasm, Eventual Romance, Felching, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Homosexuality, Hurt/Comfort, I’m a hoe for Juyeon calling Hyunjae pet names ok, M/M, Minor Character Death, Non-Graphic Violence, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Out of Character, Pet Names, Rimming, Romance, Sexting, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:55:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 54,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24510424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anon7912/pseuds/anon7912
Summary: Lee Juyeon holds all of the criminal underground in the palm of his admittedly enormous hand, but Lee Hyunjae has Juyeon’s entire world twisted around his tiny pinky finger.
Relationships: Bae Joonyoung | Jacob/Moon Hyungseo | Kevin, Ji Changmin | Q/Kim Younghoon, Ju Haknyeon/Kim Sunwoo, Lee Jaehyun | Hyunjae/Lee Juyeon
Comments: 175
Kudos: 724





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This monstrosity is the new story I’ve been working on and it’s finally done. I will be uploading two new chapters every three days, so check back on Friday for the next one. This is much angstier than my last work (see end notes) and some points in the story can get a little dark, but I will be posting warnings ahead of each chapter so you’re prepared.
> 
> Quick note: I’ve made Juyeon older than Hyunjae for the purposes of this story, and Juyeon is a little OOC as well. I’ve also left Hyunjae’s name as it is.

It’s official, Hyunjae decides — his very last brain cell has clearly gone on strike, which is precisely why he is standing at the bus stop, umbrella-less and shivering, instead of home and dry. _Of course_ he woke up late this morning, and _of course_ he neglected to check the weather, and that’s why he’s standing soaking wet in a typhoon in February like an actual fucking idiot because he didn’t realise classes were cancelled.

Just as he’s contemplating laying down to die in this rain instead of suffering a moment longer - okay, so he’s being a dramatic little shit, so what - a Mercedes pulls up beside the road and the window rolls down. Hyunjae sees a familiar ice-blonde head of hair emerge, as his next door neighbour, Eric, pokes his head out.

“Hey hyung! Whatcha doin’?” he asks cheerfully, shouting a little over the thundering of the rain.

“Enjoying the weather,” comes the dry retort from his ironically wet person.

“Looks like it,” Eric snickers. “Want a ride home?”

Hyunjae eyes his very expensive car dubiously, before replying, “I wouldn’t want to ruin your seats...” trailing off suggestively in the hopes that the younger boy extends his offer again. Like the little angel he is, Eric just smiles winningly, “I don’t care about that hyung, come on in!” The car door opens automatically, and Hyunjae hurriedly clambers in.

“Ugh thanks so much for this Ericie, I really appreciate it,” he says, wiping the water out of his eyes. Eric dismisses his gratitude with the casual ease of someone who’s grown up wanting for nothing, but Hyunjae still tries to hold himself as small as possible to mitigate any damage to the leather interior of Eric’s car. Suddenly, his phone buzzes in his pocket, and Hyunjae swipes it open to see a text from his landlord.

“Son of a bitch,” he mutters, pinching his nose bridge.

“What happened?” Eric asks, peering at Hyunjae’s irritable expression.

“Mr. Suk was supposed to get my shower fixed today but because of the typhoon, the plumber isn’t going to come ‘til tomorrow evening earliest,” Hyunjae grunts as he types back a clipped response to his landlord.

“That’s annoying, but you could always shower at mine,” Eric offers. A protest is on the tip of his tongue when Eric cuts in, saying, “Seriously hyung, I don’t mind at all. I like having people around anyway so it’s really no bother.” And even though Hyunjae wants to turn it down, he’s soaked to the bone and nothing sounds better than a hot shower right now.

“Alright, thank you then,” he says gratefully. Eric shrugs with a smile, and the two chat casually for the rest of the drive. When they’re standing at Eric’s door, the younger remarks, “Feel free to use whatever in the bathroom — my hyungs shower at my apartment all the time so they’ve left a ton of stuff. One of my them is actually gonna drop something off in an hour or so, but you’ll probably be done by then.”

Hyunjae can only nod because he’s stunned silent by the sight of Eric’s apartment. It’s not just that the furniture is clearly expensive - buttery leathers and titanium finishing - because that can be explained by the fact that Eric just has rich parents. No, it’s the fact that even the appliances are luxuriously new, clearly having been put in recently. Eric notices his staring, and chuckles sheepishly.

“How is your apartment so much nicer than any university housing I’ve ever seen?” Hyunjae demands, running his finger along a control panel for surround sound speakers.

“Uh I sort of knew the landlord from before,” Eric says noncommittally. “If you want, I can ask him to replace some of your appliances?”

“Yeah...let’s just see if my shower gets fixed before I start dreaming about skylights,” Hyunjae murmurs in response. The sound of Eric’s phone beeping interrupts their conversation.

“Ugh, shit I gotta go run an errand. My friend is stranded at a cafe,” Eric mutters, shrugging his jacket back on. “Please make yourself at home, hyung, there are spare towels in the bathroom and feel free to borrow anything! Seriously, after you helped me my first week with that mouse, this is the least I can do.” Eric’s smile lights up the room before he closes the front door behind him.

Hyunjae chuckles fondly at the closed door, shaking his head. For all of his money, Eric has a heart of gold. He shuffles carefully towards the bathroom, trying to leave as few puddles as possible with his soaked socks.

The water pressure in the shower is incredible; Eric has an enormous rain-shower installed and the water comes out piping hot as soon as he turns it on, instead of the customary two minute wait that his own shower requires. He groans softly as he lets the water soak his shivering body, lathering Eric’s fancy smelling shampoo into his honey-coloured hair.

There are more products in this shower than Hyunjae has used cumulatively in his 25-year-lifetime, so it takes him a second to even figure out that “sensitive skin mousse” is a rich boy’s version of bar soap. When he pumps out a thick cloud of it, however, his eyes immediately flutter shut at the heady woody scent that fills the shower stall. One day when he magically stumbles upon a bag of gold bars, he’ll buy himself a jar of this stuff, he thinks as he scrubs. His mood lifted from the best shower he’s ever had, he unconsciously begins to sing, knowing that Eric is out of the house.

_Hold me close and hold me fast,_   
_This magic spell you cast,_   
_This is la vie en rose._

He hums along to the familiar tune, before regretfully turning the water off. Hyunjae steps out of the steamy stall, towelling dry with one of Eric’s excessively plush towels. His clothes are soaked through, he finds, and he scrunches his nose up at the thought of putting them back on, but since he lives right across the hall, he sucks it up, wringing them dry as best he can in Eric’s sink.

He leaves the bathroom, grimacing at the feeling of cold sodden clothes against his warm body, when he suddenly stops, heart in his throat. In Eric’s living room, an irritatingly handsome man is sat with one leg crossed elegantly over the other knee, dressed in an impeccable luxury suit.

“Who the fuck are you?” Hyunjae exclaims, stepping backwards hastily. The man looks up from the phone he’s been typing furiously at, and throws him a small smile. “Hello. I’m a hyung of Eric’s, I just came to drop something off when I heard you singing.”

“And you decided to _stay?_ ” he squawks, indignantly. “ _Who does that?_ ”

The man puts his phone away, smirking at him as he drags his eyes up and down Hyunjae’s soaked form. His perfectly straight nose twitches, as if he’s smelling Hyunjae, cocking his head to observe him. “You have a lovely voice, little bird,” he murmurs, eyes lingering on the way Hyunjae’s T-shirt sticks to his chest. Hyunjae’s cheeks flare up immediately and he slaps an arm over himself.

“ _Don’t_ look at me, you creep,” Hyunjae snaps, face on fire. “I’m pretty sure this counts as harassment,” he hisses over his shoulder as he hurries out of Eric’s apartment.

“Bye bye little bird,” the smug fucker waves long fingers at him. As the door slams, Hyunjaes swears he can hear a chuckle. Stupid rich bastard.  
  


~~  
  


“You should’ve seen the way he was looking at me, Kev, it was so gross,” Hyunjae complains over video call as soon as he gets redressed in warm, dry clothes. His best friend tuts sympathetically.

“That’s creepy, I’m sorry. Was he hot at least?” Kevin asks, hopefully, drawing on his sketchpad.

“Okay one, why does that matter, and two, yes, if he wasn’t such a lecherous asshole I wouldn’t have said no to letting him buy me a drink at a bar,” Hyunjae responds primly as he stirs the batter for the fried chicken he’s making.

“I feel like the line between creepy and sexy is defined entirely by the individual’s attractiveness, that’s all,” Kevin replies nonchalantly.

“It wasn’t just creepy, Kev, it was lascivious,” Hyunjae clarifies with disgust.

“Yeah but if he could, like, get it, then...” Kevin’s voice is laden with implication. “All I’m saying is it’s been months since you’ve been laid, and-”

“Stop. Don’t quote that stupid meme to me again, and besides, if we keep letting hot rich guys like him get away with shit, what’s this world going to come to?” Hyunjae grumbles into the call.

“Okay okay, don’t go all social-justice-warrior on me again,” Kevin stops him quickly, having heard Hyunjae’s wealth inequality tirade one too many times. “Is that oil I hear in the background? Are you stress-frying again?”

“ _No,_ because I don’t do that, and I’m just making some fried chicken for Eric as a thank you for driving me home,” Hyunjae says pointedly.

The two friends chat on happily about Kevin’s new art piece he’s preparing for his master’s degree while Hyunjae carefully lowers battered drumsticks into the sizzling oil. Just as he pulls the last piece of chicken out, he hears Eric’s voice in the hallway and his neighbour’s door open and close.

“Kev, I gotta go, I wanna give these to Eric before he eats dinner,” Hyunjae says, wiping his floury hands off on his old blue apron. Kevin hangs up with an air kiss, and Hyunjae quickly picks up the plate of chicken. He looks a little ratty, he supposes, being that he’s in his ‘frying clothes’ - maybe he stress-fries enough to have frying clothes, whatever - but Eric won’t mind, so he carries the food over, knocking on Eric’s door.

The door opens and Eric, who looks like he got rained on a little himself, greets him, face brightening when he sees the food. “Ooh hyung, is that for me?” He cries, making grabby hands.

“Yeah, just a small thank you for today,” Hyunjae smiles. “You’re still in undergrad, so hyung’s gotta make sure you’re well fed.” A boy with the cutest dimples pops his head out, sniffing excitedly at the chicken. Eric introduces him to Changmin, and he and Hyunjae bow politely to each other.

“Do you want to come in and have some?” the younger offers. When he sees that Hyunjae is about to decline, he quickly puts a small hand on Hyunjae’s wrist. “Come on, it’ll be fun!” he smiles solicitously. Hyunjae considers the fact that he does actually want to eat some fried chicken but fried everything he had for Eric, so he nods. “Alright, if you’re sure.”

Eric comments that he has a basketball game on, so the three of them go to sit in front of the enormous flatscreen TV. Hyunjae is hyper aware of the fact that his tattered grey university T-shirt and navy sweatpants are touching Eric’s probably very pricey sofa, so he sits gingerly on the edge, trying not to get his floury apron on the leather. Eric doesn’t seem to mind though, sitting beside Hyunjae and throwing his arm around him as they settle in.

On the floor in front of them, Hyunjae sees Changmin’s eyebrows pucker ever so slightly as he turns his head towards them, inhaling a little too deeply for a normal breath, almost as if he’s sniffing inconspicuously. Before he can say anything, however, Eric is rubbing his hands together, excitedly bouncing.

“This looks so good hyung, and it’s the perfect amount of food for the four of us,” Eric chirps, mouth watering.

“Four...?” Hyunjae’s trails off when they hear the bathroom tap turn on and off, and the creep who ogled him earlier comes ambling into view. “ _You_ ,” he hisses, eyes narrowing at that stupid grin. Now that he isn’t so caught off guard, he takes a moment to observe the man. His dark blue hair, the colour of petrol almost - _greasy fuck,_ he thinks snidely - is brushed back from his forehead to reveal an aristocratic brow, long slanted eyes that look frozen in a perpetual smirk, and lips that turn up at the corners.

“Hello again little bird,” the man smiles at him benignly, as if holding back laughter.

“Actually, I just remembered that I left the stove on, so I’m gonna go turn it off,” Hyunjae says, getting up. Startled, Eric and Changmin look at him. “Okay...will you be back, hyung?” Eric asks, confused.

“Stay,” the unnamed man intones, still smirking at him. “The food smells very good, as do you in fact.” He has an expression like he’s enjoying a private joke, although by the way Changmin’s eyes light up, it seems like he’s in on it too.

“Mm no, my apartment has probably burned down by now so I gotta take care of that. You guys have fun,” Hyunjae deadpans loudly, pretending he didn’t hear the crude compliment. Eric and Changmin look back and forth between Hyunjae and the dark-haired man, amusement colouring their features. He turns to leave quickly when- 

“You have flour on your face you know,” the lecherous creep drawls. Hyunjae doesn’t deign to respond, just gives him the middle finger before slamming the door shut. The raucous laugher makes him cringe as he scrubs viciously at his cheeks.  
  


~~

  
He’s going to kill Kevin. Like, mutilate him in a ditch and leave his carcass for the vultures, kill him, Hyunjae thinks murderously to himself. The one day the campus buses miraculously aren’t running is the very same day that Kevin Hyungseo Moon decides to go to the art supply store and buy enormous blocks of clay for his new installation. And naturally, Hyunjae being the dumbass he is, agreed to help him carry them to his studio.

“At least it’s sunny out,” Kevin wheezes beside him as they scale the hill leading to campus.

“I’m going to murder you, Moon Hyungseo,” Hyunjae hisses back poisonously. Kevin gulps, all too familiar with how thin the ice is when Hyunjae uses his full Korean name. The two of them silently trudge onwards, quiet broken only by their huffing and puffing.

They’re a quarter of the way up the hill when they hear footsteps behind them. Hyunjae is about to step aside to let the person pass when he hears the voice of the last person he could possibly want to run into.

“Hello there little bird. Fancy seeing you here,” the creep remarks, sounding too pleased for Hyunjae’s liking. He grinds his jaw irritably, snapping, “Don’t you have somewhere else to be other than being a pain in humanity’s ass?”

“Loquacious,” the man murmurs, amused. Kevin, thankful for the break, drops his bags and turns to face the newcomer. “Hi, I’m Lee Juyeon, a friend of Hyunjae-ssi’s,” the douche bows slightly to Kevin. Kevin immediately bows back, but not before mouthing “Who is this?” to Hyunjae as he bends down. “I’m Moon Hyungseo, but just call me Kevin,” he smiles back, openly admiring the man’s handsome features.

“You guys look like you’re in kind of a situation; my car is just down the hill, do you want a ride?” Juyeon offers, flashing pearly white canines as he smiles charmingly at the two of them. Before Hyunjae can refuse, Kevin immediately accepts, gushing over how grateful he is. Hyunjae is going to _pinch_ that pale-faced traitor to death.

When Juyeon is far enough that he can’t hear, Hyunjae swiftly smacks Kevin sharply on the bicep. “What the hell was that for?!” the victim cries indignantly. “You know I bruise like a peach.”

“That was the slimeball I was telling you about from Eric’s apartment,” Hyunjae spits back. Realisation dawns on Kevin’s face. “Ohh...”

“ _Yeah_ ,” Hyunjae responds meaningfully.

“Well he can creep on me any day with those eyes and shoulders,” Kevin decides, waggling his eyebrows lewdly. That stupid remark earns him another smack. “Jesus!” he yelps. “This is abuse!”

Before Hyunjae can retort, a sleek black Jaguar comes purring around the corner. Kevin and Hyunjae just gape at it, their tongues half falling out when the window rolls down to reveal Juyeon’s face. He hops out at the side of the road, and begins loading their bags into the trunk of his car. “Get in, sit wherever,” Juyeon calls. There’s a small scuffle when Kevin forcefully elbows Hyunjae into the front passenger seat - damn him for underestimating those pointy elbows - but to maintain some semblance of dignity in front of Juyeon who is closing up the boot, he slides into the front, grimacing as he does so.

If he thought he was uncomfortable in Eric’s car a couple weeks ago, this is a whole other level, Hyunjae thinks, surveying the black leather interior and high tech consul in front of him. Kevin, too, seems a little awestruck as he slides his bottom from left to right, feeling the softness of the leather against his thighs. Unfortunately, Juyeon steps in just as Kevin is doing so, but he just laughs pleasantly at Kevin’s mortified expression. “It’s fine, I did that myself for a week straight when I first got her,” he chuckles, pulling on some sunglasses. Kevin just smiles weakly back, buckling himself in.

“Alright, where to Monsieurs?” Juyeon asks, reaching for the wheel. Hyunjae can’t help but notice the way his hands look against the dark leather — they’re enormous, large sturdy palms contrasting sharply with long elegant fingers littered with rings, and Hyunjae can’t stop himself from swallowing unconsciously. Kevin directs Juyeon to his studio, as they chat casually about his upcoming exhibition for his master’s degree while Hyunjae sits in sullen silence. Every once in a while, though, he’ll catch Juyeon’s eyes flickering towards him from behind the sunglasses. After the third sideways glance, he snarks, “ _What?_ ”

Juyeon let’s out a delighted laugh, a rumbling sound that starts deep in his chest. It makes Hyunjae swallow again even as he mentally slaps himself. “Nothing. Are you getting a master’s in visual arts as well?” he asks pleasantly.

“No.”

Juyeon just chuckles again before turning his attention back to Kevin. When they reach his studio not ten minutes later, Juyeon unloads the bags into the freight lift for Kevin to bring upstairs, even though he offers to help carry them up by hand. Just as Hyunjae is contemplating the thirty minute walk back to his apartment from the studio, Juyeon’s voice pipes up again.

“Are you staying here little bird, or can I drop you off somewhere?”

“No, but I’m just going to walk-”

“Don’t be stupid Hyunjae-ya, it’s a half an hour walk,” Kevin cuts in, winking behind Juyeon’s back. “He would love a ride,” he simpers even as Hyunjae is glaring daggers at him.

Juyeon just smirks as if he knows the facial expressions Kevin is making behind him, opening the passenger door for Hyunjae. The blonde begrudgingly clambers in but not before making a rude gesture at Kevin, and the two barbarians burst out laughing.

“Bye Juyeon-ssi!” Kevin shouts as the car peels away.

Hyunjae sits with his arms crossed, staring pointedly ahead as he grunts out directions to his building. Juyeon chuckles, “You look like a child throwing a tantrum-”

“ _No I do not!_ ” Hyunjae interrupts hotly. He lowers his voice when he realises he’s just making Juyeon’s point for him. “I am very grateful for the ride,” he recites through gritted teeth.

“And you are very welcome for it,” Juyeon responds smugly. “You never told me what you’re going to school for.”

“Master’s in social work,” comes the short reply.

“Really? Mm...” Juyeon nods thoughtfully. “That’s a very honourable field to pursue.”

“What do you do?” Hyunjae asks to divert the conversation away from him. “You look like a mob boss with all of your rings and your car,” he snickers.

“Yes, I run the biggest crime syndicate in East Asia,” Juyeon responds sounding pleased. Hyunjae just snorts, but before he can ask for an actual answer, they’ve peeled to a halt in front of his apartment. He hops out before Juyeon can draw the conversation out longer, yelling a sarcastic “Thanks!” as he opens the door.

“Bye, Hyunjae-ssi,” Juyeon laughs. That makes him stop short. “How do you know my name again?” The question barely leaves his lips when the two of them simultaneously say, “Eric.”

“Well thanks for your lovely company, Mr. Mob Boss,” Hyunjae sneers, waving a disingenuous goodbye. Juyeon touches two long fingers to his forehead in a mocking salute, and then his car is speeding down the road into the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Hyunjae sings is Louis Armstrong’s English rendition of La Vie En Rose, originally sung by Edith Piaf.
> 
> If you’re interested in checking out my other work, it’s listed below:  
> [Never Let Me Go](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24222139)


	2. Chapter Two

The pounding bass makes Hyunjae’s small living room tremble precariously, as he and Kevin prance around getting ready. It’s Friday night, and after a week of not seeing each other due to their busy schedules, he and Kevin have agreed to get wasted tonight.

Hyunjae is pouring them shots when he hears a knock on his door. Cringing, he opens it, expecting to see Eric asking him to keep it down. Instead, he’s met with the sight of Eric, his friend Changmin, and one devastatingly pretty boy, all looking at him eagerly. “Hey hyung! Are you pregaming to go out?” Eric asks, peering into Hyunjae’s apartment.

“Yeah, sorry if the music is a bit loud,” he responds, sheepishly.

“No no, that’s not why we’re here — we actually wanted to see if you wanted to pregame at mine and go out all together!” Eric’s excitement is infectious. Hearing voices, Kevin pops his head around the corner.

Hyunjae turns back to give him a questioning look, and he gets a sounds-like-fun-shrug in return. “Alright, I’ll bring my tequila,” he says, smiling, but Changmin cuts him off. “No need, we bought way too much alcohol already, Hyunjae-ssi!” Hyunjae eyes their puppy-like smiles and huffs — he’s a broke graduate student and clearly Eric doesn’t have to worry about money, so who is he to turn down a couple of free shots?

“If you really want to contribute, I love the stars you’ve drawn under your eyes,” Changmin says, dimples flashing sweetly.

“Oh good! I’ll bring my eyeliner and draw them for you,” Kevin trills from behind him, waving his makeup bag.

By the time they leave the apartment building, they all have little stars drawn around various parts of their faces, are reasonably tipsy, and have dropped formalities. The beautiful boy, Hyunjae finds out, is actually Changmin’s boyfriend, and he can’t help but join in when Eric makes gagging sounds at the way Changmin tries to kiss the star off of Younghoon-hyung’s face. Hyunjae and Kevin never really have a plan for when they go out, so at Eric’s suggestion to go to a club downtown, they agree readily, piling into a taxi that Kevin calls on his phone.

However, when they step onto the street in front of the club, Hyunjae and Kevin exchange dubious, albeit drunk, looks. The club is far more upscale than the sports bars and underground parties that he and Kevin frequent — the bouncers are dressed impeccably and all of the guests waiting in line are dripping in designer labels.

Instead of traipsing to the back of the line, however, Eric, Changmin and Younghoon walk straight to the front entrance, and Kevin and Hyunjae follow dumbly, staring at the other three when the bouncer bows to them respectfully before letting them all in with wristbands that say “table service”.

Eric leads them to the back of the dance floor where there’s a luxury booth sitting behind a velvet rope. Hyunjae’s eyebrows shoot up when the enormous bouncer standing by it bows and unties the barrier.

“Uh guys? Care to explain the VIP treatment?” Kevin asks, dumbfounded. The three of them exchange looks, silently communicating.

“We...know the owner of the club,” Younghoon says eventually, scratching the back of his neck. “This is just where we always sit when we go out now.”

Hyunjae eyes the booth, tempted. “Do you think he’d mind if you guys brought us too?”

“I wouldn’t mind at all,” a sardonic voice intones. Hyunjae closes his eyes, a long suffering expression falling over his face. “Of _course_ you own a club, you pretentious douche” he says with a groan. Even so, he can’t help but drag his eyes over Juyeon’s form as he comes strolling down the staircase by the booth, his shoulders encased in a perfectly tailored suit, and crisp black shirt hanging open just so to reveal the smallest sliver of inked skin. Changmin and Eric snicker behind their hands at Hyunjae’s retort, although Younghoon looks mildly shellshocked.

“It’s lovely to see you again little bird,” Juyeon smirks, swooping in to kiss him on the cheek before Hyunjae can react. The warmth of his lips touches Hyunjae’s cheekbone featherlight, a butterfly’s kiss that leaves him immediately flushed.

“Can you not be an uncouth brute for like, two seconds?” he snaps, angry tone belied by the blush tickling his face. Juyeon just chuckles in response, ghosting a finger over the warmest apex of Hyunjae’s cheeks. “I could, but then I wouldn’t be able to see you blush so prettily,” he purrs. Hyunjae feels like his heart might fall out of his chest if this stupid - but unacceptably gorgeous - oaf touches him again, so he does the only thing he can think of.

“Fuck off!” he squawks, shoving Juyeon bodily. The dark-haired man stumbles back a little, laughing appreciatively, his slanted eyes twinkling under the club lights. When Hyunjae turns around, he realises that his friends have all sat down and are whispering feverishly to one another while staring at the two of them.

“Kevin, we’re dancing,” Hyunjae announces, dragging Kevin away from the huddle of nosy gossips. He purposefully brushes past Juyeon when he pulls Kevin onto the dance floor. As they two of them move against one another, Kevin whispers, “So are we going to discuss your blatant flirting?”

“We were _not_ flirting Kev, get your eyes checked,” Hyunjae hisses back. Just then, one of their favourite songs comes blasting through the speakers, and then nothing matters except the thumping bass and the heady feeling of being drunk and out with his best friend. The two of them dance uninhibitedly, eyes closed and undulating their bodies in time with the beat.

When Hyunjae peeks an eye open, he sees Juyeon staring at him hungrily from where he’s sitting at the booth, leaning languidly with one arm over the back of the seats. His blush is back, but instead of feeling embarrassed, Hyunjae feels intoxicated by the feeling of power, of being watched and desired, so he bites his lips and rolls his body backwards into Kevin while staring Juyeon down. Juyeon, for his part, just drags a large hand over his jaw, long fingers lingering at his mouth as he devours Hyunjae with his eyes.

Suddenly, a man steps between the two of them, standing right in front of Hyunjae. He’s good looking in a conventional sort of way, neat features and hair, pleasantly taking Hyunjae’s hand and asking him to dance. Like Icarus flying a little too close to the sun, he accepts, if only to feel the thrill of danger rushing through his veins when he sees Juyeon’s jaw immediately tighten, obsidian eyes glinting. Kevin gives Hyunjae a questioning look, but when he sees Hyunjae incline his head subtly towards Juyeon, he cackles, leaving Hyunjae and the man alone.

The man is no Casanova so he seems content to let Hyunjae lead the dancing, running his hands up and down Hyunjae’s sides admiringly as Hyunjae grinds against him. He bites his lip again, exhilarated, when he sees Juyeon get up and stride towards them, the muscle in his sharp jaw twitching furiously. Juyeon reaches them in record time, his long legs carrying him swiftly across the floor, and he lays a hot, heavy hand on Hyunjae’s shoulder. “Do you know this man?” he demands, lips curled into a snarl.

“No,” Hyunjae responds tartly, “but I expect I will by the time the night is over.”

“You-” Juyeon sputters angrily. He takes a deep breath, but his eyes still flare brightly with annoyance. “You’re playing with fire, little bird.”

Hyunjae simply quirks an eyebrow at him and grinds down particularly hard onto the man, who had previously been watching their exchange confusedly but who immediately groans at the feeling of Hyunjae’s ass against his crotch. Juyeon’s jaw twitches again before he walks off, broad shoulders deliciously tense.

After a while, Hyunjae gets tired of dancing and excuses himself momentarily to the bar. There he finds Changmin and Younghoon making out aggressively - _eurgh_ \- and Kevin chatting tipsily with Eric. “Hello boys,” Hyunjae calls, feeling a bit like a jock in a locker room when they all wolf whistle at him.

“I can’t believe you grinded with that guy in front of Juyeon-hyung like that,” Changmin briefly untangles himself from around Younghoon to say. “I know, he looked like he was going to bust a fuse,” Eric giggles, his drink splashing everywhere. Hyunjae just shrugs, smirking smugly, but the witty comment on his lips dies when he sees Juyeon being dragged out of the back of the club by a clearly wasted, skimpily clad girl in sky-high heels. An ugly emotion blooms in his chest. Not jealousy, he decides, just... _concern_ for the girl. Yes that’s it, concern.

He storms off after them, leaving his friends with perplexed expressions behind him. When he pushes the back door open, ready to berate Juyeon for taking advantage of a girl who can’t give her consent, he’s stunned to find him helping her into a taxi. “This is triple of what it should cost to get her home — if I find that you just dropped her off on the sidewalk without making sure she gets into the building, I will find you and gut you, is that clear?” he commands a rather shaken up looking taxi driver with a thick wad of money.

Hyunjae watches, biting his lip, as the car drives off, but doesn’t move quickly enough when Juyeon turns around to go back in.

“Little bird?” he asks, surprised. “What’re you doing here?”

Hyunjae stumbles over his words. “Er...nothing I just...wanted to see if you were taking advantage of that girl while she was drunk, but you didn’t, so please...proceed,” he finishes lamely, waving his hand towards the door.

Juyeon cocks his head to one side. “Were you jealous?” he asks, a genuinely amused smile blooming on his face.

“Don’t be absurd,” Hyunjae splutters. “I just-”

Before he can finish, he is being pressed into the wall by Juyeon, who is smirking at him like a cat that caught the canary. “You’re so cute when you’re jealous,” he coos, eyes running over Hyunjae’s flushed face.

“I was not-” his weak protests are cut off with a squeak when Juyeon runs his nose down the side of Hyunjae’s neck.

“Mm,” he rumbles, “you don’t smell the same way you did the day we met.” He sounds disappointed, nosing his way over Hyunjae’s jaw.

“What?” Hyunjae says faintly, eyes closed and barely able to focus on anything except the hot trail Juyeon leaves over his skin. “W-why’re you thinking about that right now?”

Juyeon pulls back, and his eyes are full of hunger and possessiveness. “Why, because you smelled like me of course,” he purrs. “You smelled like you _belonged to me._ ”

And then Hyunjae, whose nostrils are filled with Juyeon’s warm sandalwood scent, finds his mind flashing back to the day of the typhoon, the woody scent of the skin mousse he used, and the way both Juyeon and Changmin surreptitiously sniffed him after his shower. Before he can ask why Juyeon had shower gel at Eric’s apartment however, soft lips are descending upon his, a hot mouth sliding insistently over his slack one.

It’s like a switch is flipped inside him. Suddenly, he can’t bear to have even an inch of space between his body and Juyeon’s, so he grabs the other by his dark blue hair, twisting small fingers tightly through the locks as Juyeon groans heavily into his gasping mouth. “Oh fuck, you taste even better than I imagined,” he rasps out, large hands gripping Hyunjae painfully by the waist. “So sexy, baby,” he murmurs into Hyunjae’s lips, laving his hot tongue over to soothe the nip he bites. Hyunjae can only whine softly in response, canting his hips up to meet Juyeon’s.

“Can’t believe you danced with that _commoner_ , little bird,” Juyeon growls, as his mouth begins an insidious journey down Hyunjae’s neck, bruising the pale skin along his collarbone and chest where his shirt falls open.

“Don’t be such a s-snob- _Jesus_!” Hyunjae gasps when Juyeon sucks punishingly hard in retaliation. “Not everyone can be a rich club owner p-prick like you.” He tries to keep the snark in his voice, but all he manages is a breathy whine.

“You’d like my prick I think,” Juyeon whispers smugly into his ear as he runs sharp teeth along the shell of it.

“O-oh my _god_ , I can’t believe I’m being kissed b-by a Neanderthal,” Hyunjae moans out. He’s about to chastise Juyeon further when those dangerous lips are back on his, running a hot tongue over the contours of his mouth. Juyeon kisses him like he’s trying to possess him, to mark him, and Hyunjae is helpless to resist, deliriously kissing him back in acquiescence.

However, he wouldn’t be Lee Hyunjae if he didn’t fight back just a little, so he bites sensually down on Juyeon’s bottom lip, relishing in the immediate groan it pulls from the other as Hyunjae is lifted up against the wall. He wraps his legs around Juyeon’s tapered hips, taking no small amount of pleasure at the thought that his shoes are probably dirtying Juyeon’s immaculate suit ( _he’s a petty little shit even when he’s having his consciousness kissed out of him_ ).

Suddenly, the backdoor opens and a deep voice clears its throat. “Uh...boss, there’s a problem out front.” Too dazed to feel embarrassed, the two of them break apart and Juyeon groans loudly, resting his head on Hyunjae’s chest. “Yes, fine, I’ll be there in a second,” he grunts, displeased. When the intruder steps back in, he gently puts Hyunjae down, smoothing out his caramel hair with tender hands. “Sorry, duty calls,” he says, giving him a wry smile. Hyunjae can only nod at him with hooded eyes and bitten lips, which Juyeon stares at before pressing on a last rueful kiss. “See you later, little bird.”

After he leaves, Hyunjae takes a moment to catch his breath. _What was that?_ At no point in the night had he intended to let Juyeon kiss him, and yet here he is, half brain-dead from a make out. Unbidden, a small smile creeps onto his face as he touches his lips. For how much of a douche he is, Lee Juyeon is a rather excellent kisser.

When he wanders back into the club, he finds Kevin passed out on Changmin’s lap, who is stroking his hair fondly as he chats with Younghoon and Eric. Hyunjae snorts at the sight of his pretty best friend drooling over Changmin’s definitely designer leather pants before going over to haul him awake. “I’m going take him home, guys,” Hyunjae says to the other three. He gets no response except a simultaneous raised eyebrow from them as their eyes trail down Hyunjae’s neck.

“Shut up, heathens,” he snaps, but he’s unable to keep the smile off of his own face. The answering crow of laughter as Eric collapses onto Younghoon, shrieking like a little monkey, makes him flush, but he turns his nose up at them and drags Kevin out with as much dignity as he can muster. On the sidewalk, he scans for open taxis to no avail, when a hand suddenly touches his shoulder.

It’s an older man, whose grey hair gives him a distinguished air, and he smiles before saying politely, “Lee Juyeon-ssi sent a car for you.” And true to his word, a black Audi rolls smoothly to a halt in front of them. Although he normally would have refused such a lavish gesture, the snoring boy he’s holding up makes Hyunjae accept with a shake of his head, bowing a quick thank you to the man who introduces himself as Han Kwangseok.

As they drive through the city back to campus, Hyunjae stares out of the window at the lights that disappear behind them. “I can’t believe you did that...” he murmurs softly to himself, touching his sore lips with his fingers once again. “Mrghfs,” is Kevin’s astute response.  
  


~~  
  


A week later, and Hyunjae can still feel the heat of Juyeon’s lips on his. He catches himself drifting off to the thought of the dark-haired man numerous times in the days following their hookup, and even though he feels a dash of jittery anticipation every time he thinks of him, Hyunjae doesn’t ask Eric for Juyeon’s number. A part of him is content to let the hookup be just that, a one time thing, but another part of him is strangely assured that he’ll see Juyeon again, somewhere, somehow. It’s a spark of intuition that leaves him feeling settled deep in his chest, and so Hyunjae lets the days pass, certain that he’ll see the other man again.

He’s proven correct not a few days later. As he walks down the street, a backpack full of heavy books slung across his shoulder, he spies a familiar blue head of hair outside a cafe. Juyeon is tensely barking into a phone, face ablaze with fury, but Hyunjae is too far away to hear what he’s saying. By the time he nears the other, Juyeon is curtly saying goodbye before slamming a thumb down to end the call.

“Did Daddy sell your pony, little rich boy?” Hyunjae snarks playfully, sneaking up on Juyeon. The dark-haired man jumps a little, the tension on his features bleeding into surprise and then delight. He chuckles at the jab, scratching his neck ruefully.

“No, he just wouldn’t let me buy another one,” he teases, eyes lighting up at the way Hyunjae throws his head back and laughs. “Guess my luck is turning around now that I’ve run into you though,” he says, face bright with a handsome smile.

“Yuck,” Hyunjae elbows him with a light blush. “Seriously though, is everything okay? You seemed upset.”

Juyeon’s eyes flicker for a second, before he responds, “And since when have you cared about that, hm, little bird?” He taps a finger impishly on Hyunjae’s nose, which Hyunjae slaps away with a “get off!”

“What’re you up to right now?” Juyeon asks, glancing at Hyunjae’s backpack. “That looks pretty heavy.”

Hyunjae shrugs, “It’s not too bad. I’m just grabbing a coffee before going to study in the park.” It’s odd — nothing has changed in his loose acquaintance with Juyeon beyond a few heated kisses, but here, under the early spring sunlight, Hyunjae feels light and full of effervescent joy standing beside the dark haired man. This giddy feeling prompts him to offer impulsively, “Would you...want to come with me?”

Juyeon’s face fills with shock, but is quickly replaced by a soft expression. “Absolutely,” he says with a smile.

This is how Hyunjae finds himself walking along the sidewalk clutching a strawberry Frappuccino with Juyeon beside him sipping contemplatively from his own iced coffee while he carries Hyunjae’s backpack for him. “How can you drink that stuff?” Hyunjae asks, nose wrinkled.

“What, actual coffee?” Juyeon smirks at him. “Want a taste?” he asks, thrusting the straw under Hyunjae’s nose. The blonde just stares at him, before slowly opening his mouth to take a sip. There’s something oddly sensual about sharing Juyeon’s straw, Hyunjae thinks, and Juyeon seems to agree if the way his eyes darken is anything to go by. The moment is broken however, when Hyunjae feels the bitter liquid touch his tastebuds.

“Urgh, that’s gross,” he whines, wiping his lips. “Mine is far superior,” he says primly. Juyeon just chuckles, brushing a lock of Hyunjae’s hair away from his brow as they resume walking. It’s a sweet, fleeting act that leaves Hyunjae feeling fluttery inside, but he manages to keep his blush in check this time.

At the park, Juyeon stop short when he realises Hyunjae intends to sit and lean against a tree. “Hyunjae-ya, I can’t just sit like this,” he says, looking mildly alarmed. Hyunjae, who’s already perched comfortably on the grass looks surprisedly up at his companion. “Why not?”

Juyeon seems to struggle with his words, but by the way his eyes keep flickering between his pristine suit and the grass, his reservation clicks in Hyunjae’s brain. “God you’re so stuck up,” he laughs. “Here, sit on this textbook,” he pulls out a large, flat volume and places it beside him. Juyeon just rolls his eyes, but sits anyway, awkwardly rearranging his long limbs to lean against the trunk of the tree.

He watches with a fascinated expression as Hyunjae pulls out another thick tome, leaning back as well to read. “What’re you studying for?” Juyeon asks, trying to make out the title of the book.

“I have an exam coming up,” Hyunjae responds, not taking his eyes off the book. “It’s for an elective class on income inequality in Seoul.” He pauses, then whips around to look at Juyeon intensely. “I hope you agree with the institution of progressive taxes,” he says, prodding him with a bony finger. Juyeon just stares at him. “Uh...I don’t really have an opinion on it,” he says slowly.

Hyunjae sputters. “Well you should; the redistribution of income through progressive taxes is extremely important in maintaining equality and keeping rich boys like you in check.” Before he can lecture any further, Juyeon catches his outstretched finger, and fixes him with an amused smile. “You really just say anything you think, don’t you?” he says, looking at Hyunjae as if he’s the most interesting thing in the world.

He falters at Juyeon’s assessment. “I- uh, I suppose so...it’s important to me to speak my mind even if it’s unpleasant to hear,” he shrugs, fidgeting a little under Juyeon’s intense gaze. The other just nods, stretching his fingers out so that they’re holding hands instead of just gripping Hyunjae’s finger. Hyunjae’s breath stutters as he watches Juyeon trace a thumb over his knuckles. 

“Your face is fascinating, little bird. So many emotions and expressions,” Juyeon marvels softly, eyes travelling all over Hyunjae’s features. The extended scrutiny lights his face on fire, and he shifts, but before he can complain, Juyeon releases his hand. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” he apologises. “That was rude of me — I really didn’t mean to.”

Hyunjae smiles back, his blush diminishing somewhat. “It’s okay,” he responds. To alleviate his guilt, Hyunjae remarks flippantly, “You’re less of a douche than you seemed initially, you know,” as he leans back so that their shoulders touch. Juyeon lets out one of his rumbling chuckles, shoulders shaking a little. “How so, little bird?”

“You sent that girl home instead of taking advantage of her, and you were nice to Kevin when we needed a ride,” Hyunjae says, idly running a finger over the cover of his forgotten tome. “That makes you pretty nice in my book.” There’s a pause, as Juyeon seems to mull his words over.

“Is that important to you? Kindness?” he asks eventually, looking straight ahead at the cloudless sky.

“Very,” Hyunjae responds promptly. “I don’t think I could ever be with someone who wasn’t a good person.” When he turns his head to look at Juyeon, he sees a shadow fall over his face, the smallest crease appearing between his eyebrows. “Don’t be so tense silly, you don’t _not_ qualify,” Hyunjae says, nudging him with his shoulder. That earns him a small smile.

“That’s quite the double negative, little bird,” Juyeon teases, nuzzling Hyunjae’s cheek with his nose, tension forgotten. Impulsively, Hyunjae presses a small kiss to Juyeon’s jawbone where it’s exposed, and the surprised, heated look he gets in return emboldens him to pepper more kisses up the other’s cheekbone. A warm hand engulfs his face, and Juyeon pulls him back so that he himself can lean in. The press of his lips on Hyunjae’s makes them both sigh, sharing sweet kisses that are a lovely contrast to the heated ones from over a week ago.

Before they can sink into it, however, they are rudely interrupted by the shrill beeping of Juyeon’s phone. He grumbles, irritated, but checks it nonetheless. When he sighs, Hyunjae knows instinctively that their day in the sun has come to an end. Juyeon looks at him before touching an apologetic kiss to his cheek, gets up and dusts his trousers down. “Something urgent just came up,” he says contritely.

“S’okay. You alright?” Hyunjae asks, smiling understandingly at the man before him.

Juyeon shrugs noncomittally. “I’m fine. ‘Til next time, little bird,” Juyeon murmurs with a small smile back, and then he’s striding off after a last touch to Hyunjae’s hair, disappearing into the sun. The lightness Hyunjae felt inside earlier twists, an unsettling feeling seeping through his bones as he frowns, picking up his book to resume studying where he left off.

He doesn’t see or hear from Juyeon for another fourteen days, and even when a lovely bouquet of hyacinths and daisies shows up at his door with a little bird drawn on the card, the strange feeling doesn’t dissipate. He gazes at the flowers, stroking their pretty petals as he stews in the sense of foreboding deep in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check back on Friday for chapters three and four! Hope you’re enjoying it so far.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: 
> 
> Non-graphic depictions of death and violence

Hyunjae wakes with a start. A cold eerie feeling runs through his veins like icy mercury — something is very, very wrong. Cautiously, he tiptoes out of his bedroom, a nervous sweat covering his body so that his hands become clammy. As if to confirm his intuition, low voices suddenly start echoing outside of his door in the hallway he shares with Eric. As silently as he can, Hyunjae tiptoes to his peephole, pressing his eye up against it. Three men are gathered around Eric’s door, picking his lock.

Hyunjae’s heart begins to pound, and he lets out a small squeak of fear. Almost like they heard a noise, the men stop, looking around. One gnarled face walks swiftly to Hyunjae’s door, and before he can react, they’re staring at each other through the peephole. He has to bite down on his tongue to keep himself from screaming, frozen still in the hopes that his dark pupil obscures the man’s view of Hyunjae himself. The fates apparently shine down on him tonight, and the man moves away, eyeing Hyunjae’s apartment suspiciously.

Trying to unlock his limbs as he crawls away from his door, Hyunjae shakily grabs his phone. He calls, praying for Eric to pick up.

“Hyung? What’s u-”

“Shh!” Hyunjae exclaims. “Don’t freak out, but there are men trying to break into your apartment. Listen carefully, climb out of your fire escape right now, I’m gonna call the poli-”

Eric is the one who interrupts this time. “No hyung, don’t worry about it. I’m not home, and my security feed already alerted me. Backup is on its way.” His voice sounds echoey, as if he has Hyunjae on speaker.

“Wait what? Are you sure? I’m gonna call the police in case-”

“No! No cops,” Eric snaps desperately. “Hyung, please, go back to your bedroom, I’ve got this under control.”

Hyunjae is not one to backdown so easily, not when Eric is so much younger and he feels an overwhelming need to protect the smaller blonde. “Eric, are you sure? I have a frying pan in my hand right now.”

“A-a what? No hyung, seriously, it’s-”

“It’s cast iron, Eric.” Hyunjae hears a faint snort in the background, and Eric himself seems to be holding back laughter.

“Hyunjae-hyung, really it’s fine. Just promise me you’ll lock yourself in your bedroom. You have to promise me,” Eric says earnestly. As soon as Hyunjae relents, Eric says a quick goodbye and hangs up.

However, Hyunjae is not some shrinking pansy, he thinks to himself. He sneaks back to the peephole to watch the men finally break open the door and creep in. Heart in his throat, he stares, transfixed as they close the door behind them, and then Hyunjae is just staring at a wooden door, shaking. It’s not clear how long he stands there, waiting desperately for Eric’s so called backup to show up, when finally the stairwell door opens and out steps-

Juyeon? The dark haired man is flanked by Eric and two other men whose faces Hyunjae can’t make out. Like pumas ready to spring, they slip into the apartment, all coiled muscles and precise movements, and Hyunjae can only watch with a dry mouth as little Eric from next door pulls out a switchblade from an ankle holster. The door clicks shut behind them and Hyunjae can taste the metallic tang of blood on his tongue from where he’s biting his lip too hard.

Suddenly a gunshot echoes through the small hallway, violently reverberating in the air. Before he even realises it, Hyunjae is slamming his door open to burst into Eric’s apartment, brandishing his cast iron pan. “Get the fuck away from him!” he screams, his mind echoing _Eric, Eric, Eric_ over and over again. Everyone in the room freezes to stare at him.

There, lying on the ground, are the three intruders in a puddle of dark red blood. A man - or more accurately, a boy by the looks of it - is hovering over them, pocketing his gun that has a silencer clipped on, while another wipes the blood off his hands on a handkerchief, both of them watching Hyunjae warily. A gun is discarded beside the dead men, presumably theirs, Hyunjae thinks dazedly, as he surveys the room. And there, standing with his arm bleeding and Eric tucked behind his back, is Juyeon. The air is heavy with the stench of death and tension, broken only by Eric’s stutter.

“H-hyung...what’re you doing here?”

Hyunjae swallows, feeling his throat sting from how dry it is. “I...heard a gunshot and just...reacted.”

“ _Fuck!_ ” Juyeon’s violent curse cracks through the air like a whip. “Eric, get him out of here,” he snarls, indicating to Hyunjae with a sharp jab of his head, “Sangyeon, clean up - call Jacob if you have to - and Hyunjoon-”

“I will patch you up,” the boy with the gun says flatly. Hyunjae gasps softly at the way he challenges Juyeon when he’s barking out orders, but his pale green feline eyes watch the dark-haired man impassively, as if waiting for a challenge. After a second of tense staring, Juyeon grunts, “Fine, but quickly and then help dispose of these vermin,” he nudges one of the limp bodies with his toe.

Hyunjae feels a tugging on his sleeve, and he lets himself be led out of the apartment by a worried looking Eric. Before he enters the hallway, he turns back to look at Juyeon. The other is staring at him, an expression very close to remorse colouring his handsome features; something inexplicable inside Hyunjae clicks into place, and he feels his eyes fill with hot, terrified tears when he turns back around.  
  


~~  
  


“Here hyung, I made some tea. Please drink it,” Eric urges him. Hyunjae has been sitting on his sofa for the last fifteen minutes, unable to move except for the tears coursing steadily down his face. A hot mug is forced between his hands, and he feels Eric’s slight weight sink down beside him. “Hyung...” he murmurs, concerned.

Before he can say anything more, Hyunjae’s front door opens, and Juyeon is stepping into his small apartment, arm tightly bandaged. “Eric, go help Hyunjoon, I’ll sit with him for a little,” Juyeon says tiredly. Hyunjae’s neck twinges when he looks up at Juyeon who stands there with a world weary expression, pinching his tall nose bridge between long fingers. Eric obeys immediately, slipping away with one last touch to Hyunjae’s shoulder. The door closes, and Hyunjae and Juyeon are alone in his dark apartment.

“Little bird...” Juyeon’s voice is full of regret as he sinks down in front of Hyunjae. Hyunjae’s eyes flicker up to meet his, tears spilling down his lovely cheeks, startling a little when Juyeon reaches out with a knuckle to brush them away.   


“Your arm?” Hyunjae croaks, voice scratchy from crying. Juyeon shakes his head.

“Just a nick. I’ll be fine in a week.”

“What was that in there?” Hyunjae rasps, his brown eyes filled with fear. Juyeon sighs, clenching and unclenching large fists. “Do you really want to know?” he asks quietly. Hyunjae just nods.

“There were...some men. They’ve been watching Eric for a while and I guess they decided to make their move tonight,” he pauses, biting his lip. “I _never_ wanted you to see any of that,” he says hoarsely, looking Hyunjae in the eye.

“I don’t understand,” Hyunjae mumbles. “Why were they after Eric? Who were they? Who are _you_?”

Juyeon sighs again, and gets up to sit next to him on the sofa. “They were low level thugs sent by a gang that’s been trying to put out a hit on us.”

“ _God_ okay...” he balks at the terrifying answer. “But that still begs the question — who are you? Who is this ‘us’ you’re referring to?” Hyunjae asks, although cold dread is settling deep in his stomach because he’s almost certain he knows the answer to that question. Juyeon notices the change in his facial expression, and murmurs haltingly, “It seems you already know, little bird.”

“But...I mean how- what do you- I just don’t-” A large hand on his knee silences his stuttering.

“I’m not a good man, little bird. There are eight people in my inner circle, but the greater ‘we’ I referred to is TBZ.” The apology in Juyeon’s eyes is palpable but all Hyunjae can focus on is the three letters — TBZ. TBZ, the infamous jopok, the biggest crime syndicate in East Asia. The sprawling underground operation that bled into all aspects of life in South Korea over two decades ago, an insidious plague on society that Hyunjae has seen in countless newspaper headings. He jerks his knees back, pressing himself as small as he can against the sofa.

“You lied to me,” he whispers, nauseated. “How could you kiss me without telling me you were a member of the TBZ?” Juyeon stares at him, a troubled expression on his face. He reaches for Hyunjae as if to try and hold him. “Hyunjae-ya...I never lied to you. I’m a bad person but I have never lied to you about who I a-”

“Get away from me,” Hyunjae interrupts hoarsely, terror blowing his pupils out so that the chocolate brown is just a thin ring around a circle of black. “ _Get out of my house!_ ” he hisses venomously. He feels sick to the stomach when he thinks about the fact that he’s been flirting with, has even gone so far as to kiss a member of the most dangerous organised crime group in South Korea. Hyunjae feels _repulsed_ by himself and the man standing in front of him.

Juyeon immediately steps backwards, hands in the air, feline eyes watching him full of regret and understanding. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Please don’t be scared,” he whispers, retreating slowly. He reaches into his pocket and Hyunjae flinches, but instead of a gun, he pulls out a small black business card. “I know you probably never want to see me again, but please take this. If you ever need anything, _anything_ at all, call me. I’ll be there no matter what,” he promises.

“I don’t want your _fucking favours_ ,” Hyunjae spits. Juyeon looks like he’s about to respond, but just nods forlornly before slipping out of Hyunjae’s apartment. In the dark, Hyunjae sits, clasping his knees until dawn.  
  


~~  
  


The next couple weeks pass in a blur. Hyunjae goes through the motions of life feeling like he’s asleep; time passes sluggishly and he can barely pay attention to what his professors say in class as he moves through the day like he’s submerged underwater. Naturally Kevin freaks out about his unexplained mood, but a small part of Hyunjae knows not to say anything about Juyeon and Eric’s criminal backgrounds even though he’s furious at them about it.

The hallway between his apartment and Eric’s is conspicuously quiet after Eric tries to talk to Hyunjae but gets a door slammed in his face. The flowers that Juyeon sends daily - all hyacinths, flowers of apology - wilt at his doorstep, and someone (he suspects Eric) cleans up the blackened petals every few days.

More than the anger he felt when he first found out, it’s the _crushing disappointment_ that lingers when he thinks back to that day. Changing his mind about Juyeon and then being proven forcibly wrong leaves him feeling empty inside. Hyunjae breathes heavily as he contemplates the slump he’s fallen into. How can a heart hurt so much over someone it barely knew?


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings:
> 
> Non-graphic depictions of sexual assault involving a minor original character.
> 
> I feel a little apprehensive about this chapter, mostly because I don’t think sexual assault is something that should be trivialised. I hope that this doesn’t read as such. Also, this should go without saying but if you ever see someone being assaulted, do not model your behaviour off of this chapter. If you can intervene without harm, do so, but if not, call the police or any authority nearby.

He’s walking home alone after a long day studying in the library downtown. Unwilling to spend the money on a taxi, Hyunjae lets the cool spring night wash over him as he ambles slowly, the familiar path allowing his mind to wander back to the only thing that’s been occupying it the past fortnight — Juyeon. As his mind drifts, he absent-mindedly fingers the black business card he keeps in his jacket pocket. Even though he’s written Juyeon off as a period of bad decisions, the little card bearing his name and phone number in gold lettering brings him an embarrassing amount of comfort. Just as he’s about to mentally reprimand himself for thinking about that brute again, a movement catches in his peripheral vision.

Hyunjae turns his head to find a woman pinned to the wall by two enormous men on the other side of the road. Heart in his throat, he rushes across the street towards them. “What’re you doing?! Get the fuck away from her!” he screams, pulling out his phone. The men, disgusting cowards, drop the girl immediately, and begin to run, jumping the fence in the back alley to cross over to the next street.

“Oh god, oh god,” Hyunjae mutters frantically as he catches the girl’s prone body. Her face is pale and her eyes have rolled back into her head, her dress hanging torn around her limp frame. “Help! Somebody help me!” He should call the police, knows he needs to call the police, but unbidden, his trembling fingers pull out the business card and his hand dials the number with a mind of its own. 

It’s not one ring later when Juyeon’s cool voice answers. 

“Speak.”

“J-Juyeon,” Hyunjae sobs. Juyeon’s breath immediately catches.

“Little bird? What happened? Tell me where you are,” he demands frantically. Hyunjae can hear the sound of an engine starting, the rumble of Juyeon’s Jaguar.

“I-I...there’s a girl, she’s hurt, I n-need-” He’s cut off by the sound of Juyeon growling out commands in the background - _Chanhee trace his phone, you and Hyunjoon are coming with me_ \- before Juyeon says back into the receiver, “Just hold on little bird, I’ll be there in a second, just hold on.”

The line goes dead and Hyunjae pats the girl’s face frenetically to try and wake her up, but she’s completely unresponsive. An indiscriminate amount of time passes as Hyunjae sits on the freezing floor, desperately cradling the girl close to him. It’s not until he sees that her veins are bulging in her neck that he notices she’s stopped breathing, and Hyunjae lets out a shaky gasp. He feels helpless tears spring to his eyes, but his hands won’t move, completely impervious to the screaming in his brain. “Oh god, please don’t die, you have to stay awake, please-”

Suddenly, strong arms are pushing him out of the way. “Move, little bird,” Juyeon’s gruff voice says beside him, as he quickly grabs the girl from Hyunjae’s cold hands. He immediately lays her down and begins to perform CPR on her with practiced ease, blowing into her mouth and pressing his hands on her heart rhythmically. “C’mon, c’mon, stay with me,” he mutters as he pumps. Hyunjae watches, frozen with fear, when he sees two figures emerge from Juyeon’s car, the boy with the green eyes from Eric’s apartment and another with pink hair beside him.

“Little bird, did you see where her attacker went?” Juyeon barks at him, startling him out of his paralysis. Hyunjae nods mutely, pointing towards the street. “Hyunjoon, follow them, and Chanhee you track their movements on security cameras. You will _not_ let them go, is that clear?” The two of them nod, and Hyunjoon lifts a black silk scarf over his nose, feline eyes glinting predatorily while Chanhee slips away onto the street. There’s a sudden gasp, and the girl’s chest bows upwards as she takes a breath. She begins to cry hysterically, thrashing to get away, but Juyeon immediately holds her close. “Shh, you’re safe, you’re safe, I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispers, stroking her hair.

When she finally calms down enough to stop kicking, he stands and picks her up, holding her to his chest. “Little bird, we have to go. She needs a doctor,” he jerks his head towards the road. Dazedly, Hyunjae gets up off of the cold pavement and follows Juyeon out to where he has his black Jaguar parked. “Here, hold her head up,” Juyeon says softly, handing the girl to Hyunjae in the backseat before getting in himself. The engine rumbles to life, and then they’re speeding through the city, Hyunjae barely able to focus on anything except the feeling of the girl’s heartbeat against her neck where he cradles her head.

Dimly he hears Juyeon answer his phone.

“Speak...Good. No trace left behind?...Good.” He hangs up, and silence washes over the car once again, only to be broken minutes later.

“We’re almost there, how is she?” Juyeon turns his head a little so he can glance at the sleeping girl. 

“Her heart’s beating,” Hyunjae responds, barely able to comprehend how dark his answer is, but Juyeon seems to understand because he nods and turns back to the road. They arrive at the hospital not long after, and then Juyeon is carrying the girl out, barking orders at the ER attendings. They jump into action, and roll her away on a gurney. Hyunjae catches up to Juyeon’s long strides just as she disappears around the corner of the hallway, all of the fight leaving his body at once as his knees buckle.

Juyeon catches him, slotting a broad shoulder under his arm. “Woah, take it easy, I’ve got you,” he murmurs gently as Hyunjae begins to cry. Juyeon leads them to sit down on one of the waiting room chairs, cradling Hyunjae’s face to his chest. Huge sobs wrack his body while he weeps, the utter terror of the night finally sinking in. Juyeon just holds him, murmuring soft words of comfort into his temple as large hands stroke up and down his back. Slowly but surely, the trauma of the garish night eases with every tender touch until he’s cried out of tears, just trembling ever so slightly in Juyeon’s arms.

A nurse interrupts their solitude by asking briskly, “Are you the men who accompanied the girl who’d been attacked?” Juyeon responds affirmatively, arm still around Hyunjae’s shaking frame. The nurse hums, “And you told the attending that you don’t know who she is?” Hyunjae shakes his head.

“Alright, well luckily we found her with ID, so we’re contacting her parents now. You’re free to leave whenever,” she says, tucking her clipboard under her arm. As she turns, Juyeon stops her. “Is she okay? Can I send my driver to pick her parents up?”

The nurse looks dubiously at him for a second before responding, “Ahn Jihye was drugged with a cocktail of sedatives. Luckily we’ve gotten her to expel most of the drugs in her system, so she should make a full recovery physically. The hospital will recommend her to speak with a therapist so that her emotional health is also addressed. I can’t give you her parents’ address but I can call them and ask if they’d be willing to speak to you.”

“Please do so.” Even though Juyeon is the one making the request, the authority that colours his even tone makes the nurse start a little before she hurries off to comply. She comes back shortly, and Hyunjae can faintly hear someone hysterically thanking Juyeon for sending a driver while he reassuringly says that it’s no trouble for him. As he’s texting the chauffeur, enormous hands holding a phone that looks comically small in contrast, Hyunjae tentatively touches his knee. 

Juyeon twitches a little at the contact, giving Hyunjae a questioning look until he sees the outstretched palm laying on his thigh. He smiles then, almost tenderly, Hyunjae thinks, lacing their fingers together as he finishes sending the text. Hyunjae lets out a shuddering breath, leaning his head on Juyeon’s broad shoulder.

“Thank you for saving Ahn Jihye,” he murmurs into the wool of Juyeon’s coat.

“Thank you for calling me,” Juyeon responds softly without missing a beat. “She wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you.”

Hyunjae’s breath hitches. “No, I was utterly useless,” he mutters, feeling frustration build up in his chest. “This is something I was supposed to be prepared for - I’ve taken so many classes on sexual violence and what to do when you find someone in that situation - but I just froze like a fucking idiot,” he hisses angrily at himself. “And here you come traipsing in, some supposed bad guy, and you go and save the day, but I just-”

A warm hand cuts him off by covering his mouth. “Please don’t speak so poorly of yourself,” Juyeon says fiercely, staring into his eyes. “If you hadn’t stepped in, without regard for your own safety might I add, who knows when someone would’ve found her. You are a good person who did a good thing tonight. I could never compare.” Hyunjae stares back at him, a shuddering exhale leaving his lips as he deflates. He lays his head back down on Juyeon’s shoulder, reaching out for his hand once again.

“You’re good too. I don’t know why you insist on claiming you’re completely terrible when you’re clearly not,” he says softly. Juyeon chuckles weakly beside him, tilting his head so that his rests gently atop Hyunjae’s mop of blonde hair.

“I’m a bad man, little bird. Please disabuse yourself of any illusion that I’m not,” he murmurs ruefully, almost regretfully.

“But-”

“But nothing.” Juyeon interrupts him gently. “I have never lied to you about who I am, so you shouldn’t lie to yourself either.” His thumb grazes over the back of Hyunjae’s hand like a melancholy apology before he releases their clasped fingers. Juyeon gets up to talk to the nurse at the reception, and Hyunjae watches him speak quietly before signing something, his hand feeling particularly cold and lost in that moment. When he comes back, Juyeon drapes his coat over Hyunjae’s shoulders, softly saying, “Let’s go.”

As they’re walking out, however, Ahn Jihye’s parents rush in. “Lee Juyeon-ssi, thank you so much for everything you’ve done for our daughter,” her father says, bowing low to Juyeon. “And thank you for paying for the medical bill, you have to let us pay you back,” her mother says quickly taking Juyeon’s hand. Juyeon clasps it warmly with his, shifting a little uncomfortably. “No need, please, it’s entirely unnecessary.” He reaches a hand into his suit pocket, and pulls out a card. “Please feel free to call me if there’s anything else I can help you with,” he says quietly, bowing to them before ushering Hyunjae out. Their calls of thanks and the sound of Jihye’s mother’s crying follows them to the car.   
  


~~  
  


The car comes to a stop in front of his building. The ride back had been rather quiet, Juyeon leaving Hyunjae to mull over the events of the night on his own instead of forcing chatter. When they’re finally parked, however, Juyeon turns to look at him warily, concern shining in his eyes.

“Are you going to be okay?” he murmurs, a hand reaching out to touch Hyunjae before he seems to remember himself and snatches it back. Hyunjae’s eyes dart to follow the movement, gently taking Juyeon’s hand that has returned to grip the wheel with a white-knuckled grip to hold it in his lap. 

“I will be. Will you?” he asks softly.

Juyeon nods, a sad smile on his face. “Yeah, I’ll be fine...you should probably go upstairs and get some rest,” he says, sounding regretful.

Hyunjae bites his lip, nervously contemplating what he’s about to ask. Before he can talk himself out of it, he blurts out, “Will you come up?” At Juyeon’s surprised look, he mumbles, “I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

Juyeon’s large hand squeezes his small pale one comfortingly. “Of course, if that’s what you want.”

When they enter Hyunjae’s apartment, Juyeon walks around curiously as Hyunjae hangs their jackets. He peers into corners, opens doors and all around looks so much like an inquisitive kitten that Hyunjae can’t help but laugh a little.

“Come wash up when you’re done being nosy,” he calls, heading towards the bathroom. It’s not until he’s done with his night time routine and changed into pyjamas that Juyeon finally pokes his head into Hyunjae’s bedroom. His eyes dart, fascinated, from one end of the room to another as he walks in, taking in Hyunjae’s walls that are littered with photos and mementos. To Hyunjae’s disappointment, Juyeon is still dressed in a suit as if he’ll leave at any moment.

“You’re not staying?” he asks, dismayed.

Juyeon’s eyebrows jump up. “Of course I am, as long as you still want me to. Why?”

“Oh,” Hyunjae is dumbfounded for a second. “Why didn’t you ask for a change of clothes?”

It’s Juyeon’s turn to look puzzled. “Why would I ask for that?” he inquires, looking down at his Armani suit.

“Are you going to sleep in a suit?” Hyunjae asks, barely able to keep the snicker out of his tone.

“Well no, but...” Juyeon is cut off when a set of clothes is thrust towards him. He stares at the T-shirt and sweatpants, fingering the fabric confusedly. “I don’t think I’ve ever worn sweatpants, Hyunjae-ya,” he says dubiously, holding them up to inspect them.

Hyunjae just rolls his eyes. “Don’t be a baby, just put them on. They’re not Italian silk or whatever but they’re pretty comfortable,” he snipes at the dark-haired man.

Juyeon huffs. “Fine.”

Before Hyunjae can say anything, Juyeon is pulling off his suit jacket, shirt and trousers, and then Hyunjae is gaping because _oh my fuck_ , Juyeon looks good standing in his small bedroom in just his tight black boxers. There’s a small flare of arousal deep in his stomach as he watches what is effectively a personal strip tease happen in the middle of his bedroom. He stares unabashedly at the way Juyeon’s abs flex when he pulls on the T-shirt, and he can’t help the small whimper that escapes when he sees the man’s tight ass in all it’s glory as he shucks on Hyunjae’s sweatpants. Juyeon gives him a concerned look when he hears the noise and then snorts, chuckling embarrassedly at Hyunjae’s blatant ogling. He’s about to comment - something offensively lewd probably - when his eyes open wide.

“Oh shit these are comfortable,” he says with wonder, pulling a little at the fabric of the sweats. “Where did you get these?” Hyunjae laughs, arousal momentarily forgotten at how cute Juyeon’s unfiltered joy is from something as simple as sweatpants.

“I’ll get you some one day,” he teases. Juyeon throws him a smile over his shoulder as he folds his clothes neatly over Hyunjae’s desk chair.

“Sit please,” Hyunjae pats the spot beside him on the bed shyly. He shuffles over so that Juyeon can squeeze in beside him, their backs against the wall. A long sigh escapes his lips; he’s feeling very tired but awake at the same time. “Distract me,” he murmurs, a small plea in his voice as he lays his head down in Juyeon’s lap.

“Okay,” Juyeon acquiesces, long fingers carding through his hair. Juyeon’s husky voice washes over him as he talks about everything and nothing at once — his favourite season (spring), the fruit with the highest sugar content (lychee, which is incidentally also Juyeon’s favourite fruit), and the fact that he tried Hyunjae’s preferred iced strawberry Frappuccino last week and hated it. Although his efforts to amuse Hyunjae work, the blonde can’t help but notice that Juyeon doesn’t tell him anything personal.

“Tell me about your parents,” he asks softly. Immediately, he sees walls slam up in Juyeon’s eyes, as the other blinks uncomfortably. “I-I’m sorry, you don’t have to if you don’t want to...” Hyunjae trails off unsure. “I’ll tell you about mine,” he says quickly to ease Juyeon’s discomfort. Juyeon doesn’t say anything but nods gratefully.

Hyunjae reminisces out loud about his childhood in Incheon, growing up going to a school with students of diverse economic backgrounds that opened his eyes to the inequality in the world. He talks about his parents, who still live there and who are supportive of everything he does, even if he never becomes rich for it. As he muses, his happy childhood dances before his eyes, and he finds himself smiling at the memory of his mother laughing as she chased him in a park and his father grilling bulgogi for dinner. When he peeks over at Juyeon, he sees the other with his eyes closed, a soft smile curling his lips as if he’s imagining the scene Hyunjae paints.

When Hyunjae grows sleepy, eyes slowly drifting shut every couple seconds, Juyeon strokes his cheek tenderly with a knuckle. “Sleep, little bird,” he murmurs. “I’ll be here.”

“You can’t sleep sitting up,” Hyunjae protests with a yawn. He pulls Juyeon insistently so that they’re both lying down on Hyunjae’s bed, and he immediately burrows down small into Juyeon’s embrace. “This is good,” he mumbles sleepily into the familiar woody scent. Juyeon rumbles warmly in response, pulling him even closer with one arm so that Hyunjae is entirely wrapped up against his chest. Before he drifts off, he hears the other’s hesitant voice murmur, “My mother was the most beautiful woman in South Korea...she died when I was ten.”

Unable to find the words to respond, Hyunjae just presses a kiss onto Juyeon’s collar bone and holds onto him tighter, digging small hands into his T-shirt, almost scared to let go.  
  


~~  
  


When Hyunjae wakes up, it’s to a face full of sandalwood-smelling T-shirt and the tiniest bit of drool on his chin. He wipes at it quickly, cheeks flushing in mortification, but at least Juyeon is still sound asleep he reasons-

“Oh good, you’re awake,” a husky voice says cheekily from above him. Squeezing his eyes shut in embarrassment, Hyunjae raises his head to find Juyeon staring down at him propped up on one elbow. “You’re so precious when you sleep,” he coos, the sleepiness in his voice making it more of a purr than a sickly sweet tease. 

“Fuck off,” Hyunjae grumbles, burying his face back into Juyeon’s stupidly chiselled chest. “I put you up for the night and this is the thanks I get?”

“Sorry baby,” Juyeon laughs, and the pet name makes Hyunjae’s heart trip over itself. A soft kiss is pressed into his sleep-mussed hair. Hyunjae hums contentedly, the drowsiness making him bolder, as he says, “Kiss me.” Juyeon starts, surprised at the request, before a pleased smile unfurls on his lips. He leans in, pressing a slow soft kiss to Hyunjae’s lips, large hands coming to caress blonde hair as he does so. Hyunjae arches his back into it, looping his slender arms around Juyeon’s neck. It’s the sort of kiss that lacks urgency, something slow that you can luxuriate in for hours if you so chose. Kissing Juyeon is like laying under the sun — warm and comforting, protective. When they finally break apart, Juyeon asks huskily, “Wanna wake up or sleep a little more?”

Hyunjae stretches, the little cricks in his back cracking noisily. “Mm wake up I think,” he yawns as he turns away from Juyeon, conscious of his morning breath in spite of the fact that they just kissed. “Maybe we can visit Ahn Jihye later?”

Juyeon smiles at him fondly before agreeing. The two of them get ready and dressed, Juyeon opting to stay in his suit rather than borrow Hyunjae’s casual clothes, before ambling towards the kitchen.

Hyunjae is in the middle of chopping scallions for egg pancakes when Juyeon’s voice pipes up from beside the stove. “Why are all of your appliances so shit?”

“ _Excuse me?_ ” Hyunjae asks, affronted.

Juyeon just stares back at him, not remotely deterred by Hyunjae’s ire. “You and Eric live in the same building, but the appliances in his apartment are so much newer,” he says, befuddled.

“I don’t know!” Hyunjae cries. “He said he knew the landlord from before or something, but it’s probably just cause his parents paid-”

“Ohh I totally forgot,” Juyeon lets out a loud laugh. “When he first moved in, some of the others and I came by to have a little chat with his landlord.”

Hyunjae’s eyebrows shoot into his hairline. “You had ‘a little chat’?” What the fuck does that mean?” he demands.

Juyeon suddenly looks as if he regrets speaking. He hums awkwardly for a second, trying to find the right words before muttering, “Uh...we may or may not have found out that he had a brother running for local government, and we may or may not have offered to nudge the elections in the right direction if he replaced some things around the house...”

“Oh my god!” Hyunjae sputters, waving his knife. “You can’t just do that! What if his brother turns out to be a horrible dictator? You can’t interfere with due democracy,” he cries furiously.

“It’s just local government, and we ran background checks on him and everything — very pro-green policies and welfare programmes, I swear!” Juyeon says hastily trying to get out of the way of Hyunjae’s enormous chopping knife. The blonde huffs, upset, and goes back to chopping his scallions.

He’s almost ground them to a pulp when he feels a light hand on his waist. “Little bird...” Juyeon looks at him guiltily. “I’m sorry if I upset you. We don’t have to talk about what I do, and if you still don’t want to see me again, I’d understand.” The last part is a blatant lie, Juyeon knows, but he says it out of principle anyway.

Hyunjae sighs deeply, shoulders tense. “I know that nothing has changed, and you’re still who you are. I don’t like it but I...I missed you a lot the last few weeks. I don’t know if I can get over your occupation, but I’m not...ready to stop seeing you yet,” he stares at the chopping board as he speaks, gripping the counter tightly.

Juyeon releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Slowly, as if to avoid scaring away a baby deer, he wraps his arm around Hyunjae’s waist, breathing deeply into his honey coloured hair. “I’m sorry that my job complicates things for us,” he murmurs into the blonde locks. “I wish there was some way I could keep you out of it.”

Hyunjae leans back into the embrace, touching a hand to Juyeon’s forearm as he does so. “No, I’d rather you answered my questions honestly. Even if nothing else is guaranteed, I don’t want to be lied to...again.” He says the last word sharply, a pointed jab.

Juyeon pulls back to look at him. “Again?” he asks, an eyebrow raised. “I’ve done bad things but a liar I am not, Hyunjae-ya.”

Hyunjae’s mouth fall open. “What? How about when you pretended you were just a club owner and hid the fact that you were a member of the most notorious mob in Asia from me?” he retorts hotly.

“I did no such thing,” Juyeon snaps back, equally annoyed. “When you teased me that day in the car ride back from Kevin’s studio I confirmed that I ran the biggest crime syndicate on the continent!”

“You w-what?!” Hyunjae stares at him. “I thought you were _joking!_ Anyone in their right mind would’ve assumed you were joking!”

“How was I supposed to know that?” Juyeon cries. “Most people I meet know who I am once they know my name.”

They glare at each other for a second longer before they both deflate, rueful chuckles escaping their lips. “I didn’t mean it to sound so cocky,” Juyeon says, ruffling his own hair.

“I know,” Hyunjae giggles, before sighing again. “This is going to be a weird thing to navigate...” Juyeon nods sympathetically, enclosing him in another hug. “I know, and if you ever want to tap out, I’ll understand, really.” Hyunjae hums in response, snuggling back into Juyeon.

“In the interest of honesty, I’m not just a member of TBZ. I inherited it from my father — the entire empire is mine,” Juyeon mumbles quietly into Hyunjae’s neck. Hyunjae’s resounding groan is covered by a contrite kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check back on Monday for the next update!


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings:
> 
> Brief allusions to child exploitation and violence

It’s three weeks and four coffee dates later when Juyeon invites Hyunjae to his house (or _lair_ as Hyunjae likes to call it). Even though he’s rather prepared himself for the prospect of an enormous mansion, the real thing still leaves him speechless.

It’s gorgeous, with floor to ceiling windows, plush rugs and mahogany furniture, but the thing that strikes Hyunjae most is the fact that, even with all the stuff that money can buy, it still feels so empty. The walls are devoid of pictures, and any art in the house feels lifeless — the thought of Juyeon all alone in this splendid structure makes Hyunjae’s heart hurt a little.

“Your home is...nice,” Hyunjae says politely as he surveys the barren expanse. Juyeon grunts beside him as he takes his shoes off. “It’s not a home, it’s a house. My father left it for me when he died,” he says bitterly. Hyunjae gives him a questioning look, touching his arm gently. The darkness in Juyeon’s eyes dissipates, but his smile is still a little tight as he leads Hyunjae through the house. “I don’t live here all of the time, it’s mostly just for work and it’s somewhere to sleep if I get busy,” Juyeon says. “I’ll bring you to my apartment in the city sometime, it’s much nicer than this wasteland.” He eyes the furniture distastefully.

Raucous yelling suddenly breaks through the living room, and Hyunjae starts because he didn’t realise they weren’t alone. Juyeon presses a comforting hand into his. “I figured I’d kill pull the bandage off and introduce you to my workplace and my ‘employees’ all at once,” he explains, leading them down a hidden staircase in the study.

Downstairs, the two find themselves in an enormous room of luxurious sofas, minibar, and numerous doors lined along the insulated walls. Hyunjae is shocked to see so many people milling about - he counts eight exactly - and realises this must be the inner circle Juyeon had mentioned before. A sharp whistle sounds beside him, and he winces as it cuts through the air. All of the men stop what they’re doing and stand to attention. Hyunjae stares at Juyeon, appalled. “Jesus, they’re not dogs,” he mutters, displeased.

A snort echoes from somewhere in the room, and the air of order suddenly dissolves. Juyeon rolls his eyes fondly at him, stage-whispering, “Can you not undermine my authority in front of them please? Also this lot absolutely are a bunch of dogs.” A chorus of indignant “Yah!”s immediately erupts.

“Line up you whelps,” Juyeon laughs pleasantly. “We’re not walking around just to see you up close.”

The men scramble to do so, even as they grumble irritably. There are a couple of faces Hyunjae recognises including-

“Changmin? Younghoonie-hyung?” he cries, shocked. They both have the good graces to look sheepish as they wave hello. “I didn’t know you were involved in this,” he murmurs, disbelievingly.

“Younghoon is the best sleuth money can buy,” Juyeon says, starting his introductions. “He has the kind of face that men and women fall over to share their secrets with, and he was instrumental in learning of the operation to target Eric months ago.” Younghoon blushes at the compliment.

“Changmin is our insider — there’s no wall he can’t scale, no entrance he can’t sneak into, no lock he can’t pick. If we ever have to steal anything back from within another Family’s property, he’ll find a way to,” Juyeon continues.

“I used to be an acrobat before Juyeon-hyung found me,” Changmin explains, shooting a grateful look at Juyeon. The loyalty in his eyes makes Hyunjae’s chest tighten a little; indeed, he can see the same devotion in all of the men’s expressions when they look at their leader.

Juyeon goes on to introduce the others - Sunwoo, Jacob, Sangyeon, and Chanhee - for some of whom he clarifies their role in TBZ, and for others he doesn’t. Hyunjae doesn’t ask either; knowing that sweet looking Sunwoo runs the syndicate’s arms trade and that Chanhee can hack any security system in the world is enough to leave him light-headed.

He does laugh, however, when Chanhee winks smugly at him after being introduced, saying, “I’m also the only one with a functioning brain in the group,” although Hyunjae’s laugh is cut short with a yelp of terror when he sees a small knife whiz dangerously past Chanhee’s ear. Judging by the placid, albeit mildly disgruntled, look the pink-haired boy directs at Sunwoo, this is a commonplace occurrence between them.

When Juyeon turns to introduce the next person, Hyunjae interrupts him before he can. “Hello Ericie,” Hyunjae says with a smile.

“Hi hyung,” Eric murmurs back a little nervously. “Hyung, I’m so so sor-” Hyunjae holds a hand up before going to hug the younger. “Don’t. I’m just glad you’re okay. I’m sorry for slamming my door in your face,” he says, holding Eric tightly. Eric dismisses his apology quickly with a sniff, gripping him with equal force. He coughs when they pull back, swiping quickly at his eyes.

“I want to introduce myself, hyung!” he says to Juyeon. “I do lots different stuff, mostly nuclear weapons deals but sometimes underground fossil fuel trading. They call me the Energy Boy!” His childlike giggle is an alarming contrast to the words coming out of his mouth.

“No one calls you that Ericie,” a flat voice drawls. Hyunjae turns to see the boy with pale green eyes from the alley smirking, arms crossed languidly over his chest. “Ugh but they should,” Eric groans. “Why did I spend two weeks coming up with an alias if no one’s gonna use it?” Juyeon just laughs and ruffles his dongsaeng’s hair fondly.

“Little bird, this is Hyunjoon, my capo bastone,” Juyeon introduces the two of them and they bow to each other. “It’s nice to meet you, but I don’t know what a capo bastone is,” Hyunjae says awkwardly.

“I’m his second in command,” Hyunjoon responds, pale eyes flickering calculatingly between Hyunjae and Juyeon. “Juyeon-hyung didn’t mention you weren’t in this life.”

Before Hyunjae can confirm, a small flurry of murmurs breaks out in the room. Juyeon interrupts them with a suddenly harsh bark, “Yes, he’s an innocent, and you all know what that means. If any of your underlings even touches him, penance will be paid in blood. Make that clear to all of your men.” His eyes flash dangerously, and Hyunjae can’t help the small ripple of fear he feels run through him. The others in the room all nod, their previously friendly faces suddenly wary.

Juyeon turns to him, eyes warm once again. “Do you mind going upstairs for a bit? I have some things I need to work out with Jacob.” Hyunjae nods with a smile, although he rolls his eyes when Juyeon inclines his head at Hyunjoon to accompany him upstairs. Sunwoo, too, trails behind them.  
  


~~

  
When the door closes, Hyunjoon and Sunwoo lead him to the garden. Even though it’s stunningly covered with lush trees and tropical flowers, Hyunjae struggles to enjoy it when he sees the men traipsing around carrying assault rifles with enormous black dogs in tow. The alarm must show plainly on his face because Sunwoo places a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t let them bother you, they’re just guards,” he says kindly, pushing Hyunjae to sit on one of the padded benches.

“Why did everyone freak out when they found out I wasn’t part of the underground?” Hyunjae asks, settling himself against the cushions. Sunwoo and Hyunjoon exchange looks before Sunwoo seems silently elected to explain. He sighs, running a hand through his red hair. “They didn’t freak out, it’s just...Juyeon-hyung has never really brought someone around to meet us, so when he said he was bringing you, we all figured you were from another Family — someone who understands what we do. Plus, hyung has always had this rule: no innocents involved. No one uninvolved in the underground has ever been here.”

Hyunjae blinks slowly at him, processing. On the one hand, a small part of him is glowing at the thought that he’s the first one important enough to introduce everyone to, but on the other...

“You’re telling me I’m the first person he’s ever dated?” he asks, bewildered. Sunwoo shrugs, a little discomfited. “I don’t know, but he’s never introduced us to anyone that’s for sure. I don’t know if you can tell, but he’s not great with feelings.” Hyunjae frowns, thinking back to his interactions and dates with Juyeon. He had always been perfectly good company, funny and sweet, but he often appeared reluctant to share anything about himself. Juyeon seemed content to let Hyunjae talk, rarely volunteering his own feelings if Hyunjae didn’t say something first.

Sunwoo interrupts Hyunjae’s reverie with a warm squeeze on his shoulder. “If it makes you feel better about being an outsider, my boyfriend Haknyeon is also an innocent,” he says with a fond smile. Hyunjae smiles back, a little comforted by the knowledge.

“So how did you both meet Juyeon?” he asks inquiringly.

Sunwoo shrugs. “I was really young when I met Juyeon-hyung. My parents had just died and I was struggling to make ends meet,” Hyunjae makes a noise of sympathy but Sunwoo waves it off. “It is what it is. Anyway, I got into street fighting - just low-level shit to earn some quick money - but one night, I guess I beat someone kind of important in one of the Families and before I know it, I’m being jumped by four guys in an alley.”

Hyunjae tenses, Sunwoo’s matter of fact tone a small comfort in the bleak story he tells. “I thought I was going to die; there was no way a sixteen year old kid could defend himself from four grown men y’know? But before they could kill me, I hear four shots ring, and then they’re all just lying there, dead. Juyeon-hyung brought me home with him, clothed me and fed me, and I’ve been his ever since.”

“What do you mean you’ve been ‘his’? Like indentured servitude?” Hyunjae asks with distaste. Sunwoo’s laugh immediately cools his indignation.

“No, nothing like that. He’s never once forced me to stay or do something I don’t want to do. Being ‘his’ is just something all of us say in Juyeon-hyung’s inner circle cause when you work for him, he treats you like family. This is less like employment than it is like brotherhood,” Sunwoo’s friendly smile makes the knot inside of Hyunjae’s gut unclench. He returns it gratefully before looking at Hyunjoon, who has been watching the two interact silently.

“Joonie?” Sunwoo prompts. Hyunjae quirks his eyebrow at the nickname and Hyunjoon’s cold facade falls away for a second.

“Yah, I told you to stop calling me that! Who’s ever heard of an assassin with a nickname?”

“Oh-” Hyunjae’s throat closes up. He’s getting whiplash from how quickly his emotions are changing today, but now he feels like he’s going to throw up his lunch.

Hyunjoon’s eyes dart towards him, watching, observing. “Yes, Juyeon-hyung didn’t mention it on purpose earlier but I’m a contract killer. You might as well know,” he murmurs.

“W-who...do you kill?’ Hyunjae croaks, throat impossibly dry.

Hyunjoon shrugs like Hyunjae has just asked him what flavour of ice cream he should get. “All sorts — drug lords, dirty politicians, other assassins, anyone who gets in the way of TBZ really,” comes the blasé response. “My first kill was my old master. That was _sublime_ ,” Hyunjoon’s mouth curls up into a snarl of a smile as he recalls.

Without waiting for Hyunjae to ask, he continues. “Like Sunwoo, I used to be in a bad place when I was younger. My parents sold me off to a brothel when I turned twelve, but it’s not until I turned thirteen that they started to make me...dance.” Hyunjoon’s pale eyes look far away, his face betraying no emotion save for the fury in his eyes. “It was my first month as a dancer that Juyeon-hyung found me. I thought he was a client at first, and I _hated_ him, wanted to _kill_ him for paying for a session, but he just gave me a coat and a black credit card and told me I could leave whenever.” Hyunjae stares at the boy, who couldn’t be much more than nineteen now, almost unable to imagine the horrors he describes.

“I ran after him of course — I wanted to know if there were strings attached to the card but he just shrugged and said no. It’s not something I’d normally believe but Juyeon-hyung has that sort of face. I asked him to take me with him then and there, and he agreed,” Hyunjoon sighs, the burning anger dying a little in his green irises.

“I thought I’d be a mini-servant to him or something, like help him with housework or cook, but he enrolled me into school the next day. It was tough at first because I was so behind, but he tutored me through everything, even maths which he’s total shit at. I worked hard to graduate early, and I did when I turned sixteen. I’ve been by his side ever since.” Hyunjoon smiles properly for the first time, and it makes his feline face look younger, softer. Curiosity aflame, however, Hyunjae can’t help himself from interrupting the serenity.

“How did you go from being in school to becoming an assassin?”

Hyunjoon tilts his head at him, as if assessing how well Hyunjae can handle the story. “I took up archery in school as an extra curricular, and I found that I loved it. More than anything though, I was good at it. I don’t think Juyeon-hyung ever planned for me to join him - I think he just figured I’d stay with him like family - but I wanted to be useful, to repay him somehow for all the kindness he’d shown me.

The year I graduated, I found out that my old master had expanded the brothel and bought out a new location. It was like I was on auto-pilot from there really; when I found him leaving one night, I just shot him with the pistol I stole from Juyeon-hyung’s office. When I came home covered in blood, he took one look at me and knew what I’d done, but he didn’t say anything, just washed the blood off me as I stood there. I told him I intended to learn to sharp-shoot the next day, and here we are, three years later.”

Hyunjae releases a shaky breath. The violence in Sunwoo and Hyunjoon’s lives leave him speechless, but in a twisted way, he sees how the life Juyeon has made for them all is one of love and camaraderie. Sunwoo touches a hand to his knee sympathetically. “It may seem like we lead lives of complete immorality, but Juyeon-hyung is a good man. Not a law-abiding one maybe, but a good one.” Hyunjae grips his hand back with a small smile.  
  


~~  
  


Hyunjae spends the rest of the day milling around the mansion and speaking with various members of the inner circle. Occasionally he hears muffled shouts coming from downstairs, but he valiantly ignores it in favour of exploring the enormous rooms around the house, with Sunwoo and Hyunjoon not far behind. It’s only when the sun begins to set that the two of them get a notification on their phones. The grim look they exchange makes Hyunjae’s heart rate pick up, as the three of them walk swiftly back to the living room.

There, Hyunjae sees Jacob speaking quickly and quietly to four other men, foot soldiers he assumes, before strapping a frightening number of guns to his person. When he sees Hyunjoon and Sunwoo walk in, he fixes them with a displeased expression on his good-looking face. “It’s Park. He’s trying to divert the stream of shipments.” Hyunjoon’s lip curls in irritation, and Sunwoo grunts, and the three of them leave, trailed by the four unnamed men.

Hyunjae tiptoes quietly to the door leading to the study, padding softly down the hallway as he listens to Juyeon growl irritably on the phone.

“I don’t give a _fuck_ about how good the money is, I don’t want my coke on the streets, you hear me? If I find out you’ve misplaced a shipment again, Hyunjoon and Jacob will be paying you a little visit. _Have I made myself clear?_ ” he hangs up before the person on the other line can respond, slamming his phone onto the table. He’s pinching his nose bridge when Hyunjae knocks softly on the door.

“ _What_ \- Oh. Hello little bird,” he deflates quickly, closing his eyes once again. “Sorry this visit has gone to shit. You probably heard me on the phone, but one of my suppliers-”

“Don’t. I don’t want to know,” Hyunjae stops him quickly. Juyeon looks troubled, but nods regardless. “Are you okay?” he asks gently, walking so that he’s leaning against the desk in front of Juyeon. He touches a hand to the other’s face, stroking his thumb over the high cheekbone. Juyeon leans into his touch, the shadows under his eyes more pronounced with his eyes closed and the soft sunlight streaming through the windows onto his face.

“Fine, just stressed,” he murmurs. He presses soft kisses along the inside of Hyunjae’s wrist, lighting a small flicker of desire in the blonde’s stomach. If Hyunjae is being honest with himself, he feels scared and nervous after being exposed so suddenly to Juyeon’s life, the fear translating into a desperate need to be close to the dark-haired man. As such, he leans in to whisper sensually, “Let me help you with that.”

Juyeon’s eyes are wide with surprise and then arousal when Hyunjae kisses down his neck and chest, deft fingers unbuttoning his expensive silk shirt as his lips travel down. “And how do you plan on doing that, little bird?” Juyeon asks huskily, eyes watching Hyunjae with barely concealed desire. Hyunjae just smirks at him before brazenly running his palm against Juyeon’s hardening cock over his trousers. The dark-haired man hisses, his eyes fluttering shut, as Hyunjae strokes him firmly.

Slowly, teasingly, Hyunjae unzips Juyeon’s slacks, pulling them down over his taut ass. He falters then, when Juyeon’s cock springs out, catching him unaware. “No underwear?” he asks, wryly. Juyeon bites his lip and shakes his head with a snicker. Hyunjae shrugs, giving him a hungry look. “All the better for me to suck you off then.” Juyeon’s answering groan makes Hyunjae shudder with desire.

Even though they’ve already messed around before, quick handjobs in the backseat of Juyeon’s car and one particularly embarrassing time when Hyunjae came from just rutting against Juyeon’s thigh with both of their clothes on, he has yet to see Juyeon’s cock in broad daylight. He stares at it, pleased with the way it twitches under his gaze, standing long and proud away from Juyeon’s pelvis. He’s massive, and Hyunjae feels a giddy trepidation at the thought of trying to swallow it whole.

He runs a thumb over the weeping slit before bringing it up to his mouth to taste, all the while relishing in the way Juyeon stares at him. “Mm,” he hums, flicking his tongue out as he sucks his thumb. Juyeon’s breathy “ _Fuck_ ” is all the encouragement he needs to sink his mouth down, swiftly and mercilessly.

“ _Jesus_ baby,” Juyeon grits out, hands tightening on the armrest of his chair as if he’s fighting to not touch Hyunjae. “ _Ungh_ you suck cock so well, look so pretty with your pink lips around my cock,” he grunts, hips twitching to slam into Hyunjae’s throat. Hyunjae’s aware of Juyeon’s proclivity for filthy praise but it still makes him whine, high and pitchy, into Juyeon’s neatly trimmed pubic hair. 

The vibrations make Juyeon’s hips buck punishingly hard, and then his cock is rammed bodily down Hyunjae’s throat as Hyunjae swallows convulsively around him. “Oh _fuck!_ Fuck, little bird, gonna dirty up your hot little mouth, oh C-Christ,” Juyeon rasps out, hands compulsively releasing the chair to grab Hyunjae’s hair. Hyunjae pulls off of him to catch his breath, stroking him quickly as he does so, but when he sinks back down to bob his head along Juyeon’s length, Juyeon’s phone rings shrilly.

The two of them freeze. Juyeon checks his phone with shaky hands before groaning irritably. “Shit pull off baby, it’s Jacob, I gotta take this,” he says forlornly, hissing when Hyunjae lifts off. He misses the wicked little smirk that tugs at Hyunjae’s lips, running his hand through Hyunjae’s blonde hair tenderly when he answers.

“Speak,” he says, sounding particularly curt. Juyeon watches Hyunjae with hooded eyes while he continues to stroke his hands up and down the massive length. “Did you find Park- _ngh_ -” his question his cut off with a muffled grunt when Hyunjae licks a long stripe up his cock. “Sorry, go on,” he says with gritted teeth, as he waves his hand at Hyunjae, frustrated. _Stop baby_ , he mouths, eyes looking alarmed, but he doesn’t push the blonde away — if anything, the hand in Hyunjae’s hair tightens.

Hyunjae just throws him a bratty little smile before wrapping his lips lightly around the dark red tip, lapping hungrily at the pre-come there. Juyeon throws his head back, jaw twitching as he fights to keep his voice steady, “Mhm, yep, _f-fu-_ okay, good.” Deciding that Juyeon has had enough time to acclimate, Hyunjae sinks his head down once again to suck mercilessly, tongue tracing relentlessly over the protruding veins lining Juyeon’s cock. Juyeon lets out an involuntary groan before coughing loudly to cover it up. Hyunjae can hear Jacob asking if he’s okay over the phone, and winks devilishly up at Juyeon who sputters that he’s fine back.

“That’s good, just do- _ungh_ \- that,” Juyeon shoves his fist into his mouth as he listens to Jacob talk.

“Hyung, are you sure you’re okay?” Jacob asks, very concerned. Hyunjae can tell that Juyeon is getting close by the way his hips cant furiously upwards into Hyunjae’s mouth and the way his heavy balls have drawn up.

“I’m fine, just- _unf_ \- working out, so I gotta go, do whatever you think is b-best, bye,” Juyeon spits out before slamming the phone down. “M-Mother _fucker_ , pretty baby, gonna come down your throat and dirty up your _hot little mouth_ pretty boy,” Juyeon growls out, and then he’s coming thick heavy spurts down Hyunjae’s throat, his abs gloriously tense as Hyunjae swallows around him. Hyunjae can only stare as he drinks him down, eyes marvelling at the elegant line of Juyeon’s neck as he moans long and loud.

“ _Christ_ , so good baby, made me feel _so good_ with your pretty mouth sucking down my come,” he rasps, large hand stroking the stretch of Hyunjae’s jaw as he stares hotly into Hyunjae’s lust blown pupils. Hyunjae’s eyes squeeze shut with the white hot pleasure shooting through him, his cock so hard he thinks he’s left a wet patch in his jeans. When the sensation of Hyunjae’s tongue laving his cock becomes too much, Juyeon pulls him off gently, watching him with wild eyes. 

He hauls Hyunjae onto his lap, kissing him like a starving man, his tongue exploring his own taste in Hyunjae’s mouth. Juyeon breaks them apart to catch his breath, panting heavily while he lays his head on Hyunjae’s shuddering chest. “Jesus that was so hot, little bird,” he breathes out. His long fingers gently thumb the wet patch on Hyunjae’s jeans as he hums, “Mm seems you got a little messy there baby,” and Hyunjae can only keen into the crook of Juyeon’s neck as he continues to stroke featherlight over the straining bulge.

“Should I let you come, though?” Juyeon muses aloud, a predatory glint in his eyes. “After all, you did interrupt my work call, and it was very important,” he murmurs, ghosting sharp teeth along Hyunjae’s neck. Hyunjae whines aloud, leaning back to stare incredulously at him. “You’d better make me come, Lee Juyeon-” he starts fiercely, but a suddenly tight hand gripping his cock cuts him off with a shriek. “Oh _fuck!_ ”

“Such a dirty mouth on my little angel,” Juyeon teases, the lightness in his voice contrasting sharply with the almost painful hold he has on Hyunjae’s cock. “Suck,” he commands, holding two long fingers to Hyunjae’s mouth, and he obediently pulls them into his mouth, running his tongue lewdly over the digits. Juyeon pulls them out, yanking Hyunjae’s jeans off as he does so and repositioning him so that he’s straddling Juyeon’s still naked pelvis.

“Want them in you, pretty baby?” he taunts, and Hyunjae just buries his head back into the crook of Juyeon’s neck with a sob, nodding desperately. “Anything for my little bird,” the devil croons, and then he’s pressing a wet finger into Hyunjae’s furled back entrance, and Hyunjae hears white noise. “Oh _God!_ J-Juyeon, I-I, oh god,” he cries, wriggling his plump ass into the finger to get more friction. Juyeon shushes him, slowly thrusting his index finger but Hyunjae just wants _more_ damn it. “P-please, baby, I-I need- _please_ ,” he begs, tears welling up in his eyes from how desperate to come he is, digging his nails into Juyeon’s shoulder. Juyeon grunts, adding a second finger, his long, thick fingers creating a delicious burn inside of Hyunjae.

“Where is it...” he mutters to himself, brow furrowed. In the next second, his question is answered, as Hyunjae bows his back in an impossible arch with a shriek. “ _Oh fuck Juyeon!_ ” The fingers inside him are relentless now, Juyeon’s wrist snapping with a vicious speed, slamming against his aching prostrate endlessly. “You gonna come for me, little bird?” Juyeon snarls into his neck, licking a long stripe up Hyunjae’s bobbing Adam’s apple. Hyunjae nods frantically, his teeth nearly tearing a hole through his bottom lip.

“Y-yes please, wanna come, wanna come on your lap,” he whimpers, body shaking with his impeding orgasm. “Good boy,” Juyeon praises, his free hand that was on Hyunjae’s hip coming to grip the back of his neck possessively. He pulls Hyunjae’s head so that their foreheads are pressed against one another, growling out, “Come for me pretty baby, I want to watch you come all over me.” The feral command snaps the tight coil in Hyunjae’s stomach, and he wails as he comes, cock twitching feverishly, untouched.

“ _Oh God baby_ , f-fuck, I’m _coming!_ ” he shrieks, convulsing in Juyeon’s lap as he rides his orgasm out on Juyeon’s fingers, Juyeon’s cooing and dirty praises drawing it out painfully long. When he’s shivering wetly in Juyeon’s arms, the dark-haired man nuzzles his damp cheeks, pressing the softest of kisses along his cheekbones and nose. 

“You have the cutest little nose,” he whispers adoringly. “It’s like a little ski slope!” He punctuates his compliment with a kiss right on the tip. Hyunjae laughs shakily, his own small hands coming to stroke Juyeon’s hair. “I don’t know how you can say something like that when your fingers are still inside me,” he clenches pointedly, although his snark is diminished by how breathy he is. Juyeon lets out a soft “ _Shit_ _that’s hot_ ”, kissing Hyunjae’s collarbone to control himself. His naked cock twitches under Hyunjae, and to his surprise, he sees that Juyeon is hard again, leaking a little from the tip.

“How’re you already hard?” Hyunjae asks, appalled. He hisses a little when Juyeon pulls his fingers out gently, but that gives him the space to slide back down to the floor. His hand goes to hold Juyeon’s cock, running slender fingers up and down the length. “It’s like a biological marvel,” he murmurs disbelievingly. Juyeon whimpers softly above him. “If you’re not going to do anything about it, don’t touch it,” he grunts, batting Hyunjae’s hands away playfully. Hyunjae giggles, giving the leaking head a last kiss before tucking it back into Juyeon’s trousers. He pulls his own jeans up as he stands, thanking the stars that the little wet spot has dried while Juyeon wipes Hyunjae’s come off his abs with a tissue.

The two of them are exiting the study when the front door opens to reveal Jacob, Hyunjoon and Sunwoo. The five of them lock eyes, Sunwoo and Hyunjoon’s stares darting over Hyunjae’s guilty face to Juyeon’s carefully blank one, before they start howling with laughter.

“Cobie, I told you!” Sunwoo yells, laughter echoing in the vast mansion. “Told you he wasn’t working out. Pay up,” he has a shit-eating grin that Jacob just rolls his eyes at before handing over three Cuban cigars.

“Damn it, I really thought you were working out hyung,” Jacob whines, passing three more cigars to Hyunjoon’s outstretched hand. “I can’t believe you answered the phone when you were in the middle of...” he shudders, unable to continue.

Juyeon clicks his tongue displeasedly, before responding flatly, “You’re all fired for making Hyunjae uncomfortable.” The three pay no heed as they head towards the mini-bar for a drink, and Hyunjae just buries his bright red face in Juyeon’s chest. The taller man chuckles, rubbing his back comfortingly.

“Do you mind if I have my driver take you home? I have to sort out post-operation details with this lot,” Juyeon asks, holding Hyunjae by the waist.

“Of course not,” Hyunjae smiles at him, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. Juyeon calls his driver, and not a minute later, Han Kwangseok is bowing low to the both of them, car keys in hand.

“Text me when you get home, little bird,” Juyeon gives Hyunjae’s hand a squeeze before striding off downstairs.

Hyunjae follows the elder driver out to where Juyeon’s Jaguar is parked, smiling gratefully when he opens the door for him. “I don’t know if you remember, Han Kwangseok-ssi, but we met months ago in front of Juyeon’s club. He sent you to tell me that he’d arranged a car to bring me and my friend home.”

The silver-haired man chuckles. “Lee Hyunjae-ssi, I never forget a face,” he smiles at him through the rear view mirror. Hyunjae smiles back, leaning back contently in the car.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you worked for Juyeon?” he asks curiously.

“Not at all. I actually worked for Lee Juyeon-ssi’s father before I worked for him. I’ve known Lee Juyeon-ssi since he was just a little boy,” Kwangseok says with a fond look in his eyes.

“Oh that’s so sweet, what was he like as a child?” Hyunjae asks, eyebrows scrunching at the adorable mental image of a young Juyeon. The driver laughs, eyes crinkling, as he reminisces, “Oh Lee Juyeon-ssi was quite the troublemaker, always climbing trees and running around. He gave myself and the other staff quite a few grey hairs over the years.”

Kwangseok leans back to look at Hyunjae conspiratorially. “One time, he even tried to ride one of his father’s Doberman’s; the poor dog nearly had to get back surgery, but we didn’t have the heart to tell him that the dog wasn’t the pony he thought it was.” Hyunjae snickers, filing that story away in his mind for future mockery opportunities. Kwangseok continues to regale him with delightful anecdotes the entire ride back, and Hyunjae doesn’t even realise he’s home until Kwangseok gets out of the car to open the door for him. They bow to each other, and Hyunjae smiles at the elder gentleman, “You’ll have to tell me more someday. You’re quite the storyteller Han Kwangseok-ssi.” The driver just taps his nose with a wink before getting back in the car.

As he’s getting ready for bed that night, Hyunjae suddenly remembers he agreed to text Juyeon when he got home. When he opens his phone, he sees that Juyeon has beaten him to the punch.

 _Al Capone_ :

Little bird, are you home yet?

It’s been ten minutes since my last text, respond to me.

If Han Kwangseok has gotten you lost, I’m going to fire him.

He just walked through the door and said he dropped you off in one piece. Hello??

_Nightingale:_

You’re so dramatic, I got home fine -_-

_Al Capone:_

No, dramatic would be me asking Chanhee to trace your phone and tap into your security cameras.

 _Nightingale_ :

And you didn’t do that...?

 _Al Capone_ :

.  
Just humour me, I get worried about you.

Hyunjae’s heart flutters a little when he sees Juyeon’s last text. For all of his stunted emotional capacity, Juyeon never leaves Hyunjae questioning how much he cares. He types back quickly, eyes shining.

 _Nightingale_ :

I know, and I will  
Side note, can we change our text names?  
Mine is so sappy

 _Al Capone_ :

If I have to be a chubby Italian mobster then you have to deal with the sap.  
“Tit for tit” as the Americans say.

 _Nightingale_ :

Omfg that is absolutely not what they say X.X  
It’s tit for tat

 _Al Capone_ :

Why would you trade a tattoo for a tit? It doesn’t make sense.

 _Nightingale_ :

Omo I can’t deal with this rn  
Goodnight 

_Al Capone_ :

I’m definitely right.  
Goodnight little bird.  
I miss you x

Hyunjae stares at the little kiss at the end of Juyeon’s text for longer than he’ll ever admit out loud before he finally falls asleep.


	6. Chapter Six

“Hyunjae-ya, is this really necessary?”

Hyunjae smirks — Juyeon almost never calls him by his name, preferring to use one of the plethora of pet names he’s come up with, so he must be very agitated to be addressing Hyunjae so directly. He hums back on the phone, feigning disappointment.

“I mean...I guess you don’t have to. I would understand...” he makes sure to keep his voice sad and pouty, and he can almost hear Juyeon’s resolve crumbling.

“Ugh little bird, don’t be upset please,” Juyeon whines. Ah, almost there, just one last nudge.

“I’m not, it’s okay.” Hyunjae sniffs plaintively for good measure. He hears a rumbling groan and then Juyeon is grunting, “Alright alright, I’ll let you pick out new clothes for me.”

On the other side of the city, Juyeon listens with a tender smile on his face as Hyunjae crows with triumph. Hearing the lovey sound of his laughter will almost make up for a torturous day of shopping. Almost.

Later that day, when they’ve traipsed out of what feels like the hundredth shop, Juyeon struggles to keep the exasperation out of his voice. “Little bird, do we have to keep going?” Hyunjae just shoots him a look, responding stiffly, “Yes. I’m sick of you stealing my sweatpants, and I’m also sick of people staring every time you walk through campus with me.”

“But I have sensitive skin and most of this stuff isn’t even organic cotton,” Juyeon grumbles, waving the offending shopping bags to make his point. Hyunjae rolls his eyes, shoving the blue-haired man lightly.

“Snob.” He pauses, suddenly remembering that he omitted a significant part of the day’s plans to Juyeon. “Ah I totally forgot to say this but I was planning for us to meet Kevin for lunch. Is that okay?” Hyunjae asks tentatively.

Juyeon gives him a blank look back. “Sweetheart, I’d let Kevin eat _me_ for lunch if it meant an end to this torture.”

“Yah! Just my luck to have a boyfriend who’s such a drama queen,” Hyunjae mutters before clapping a hand over his mouth, the tips of his ears turning red. “Um...”

Juyeon is staring at him, an unbearably soft expression in his eyes, and when he speaks, it’s with so much tenderness that Hyunjae feels like he’s bathing in sunlight. “I don’t know, I feel pretty lucky to have found you,” he murmurs, pulling Hyunjae in to kiss him softly. Hyunjae tries to roll his eyes or scoff, but all he can manage is a relieved hiccup as he melts into the kiss.

“Gaaaaaaay.”

The two of them whip around at the taunt, Hyunjae biting out, “Kevin Moon, I swear to God.” Kevin laughs impishly, coming to give them both a hug. “You’re both terrible friends — here I am, waiting patiently in the restaurant while you two are out here sucking face,” he complains as he pulls away.

Juyeon is polite enough to look contrite, but Hyunjae just pinches Kevin in the side before walking into the sushi bar. Inside, the three of them sit comfortably, although Juyeon pokes a limp piece of fish with a pained look on his face. The lunch goes off without a hitch, save for Hyunjae forcibly shoving a piece of sushi into Juyeon’s mouth after he questions for the third time if it’s safe to eat sushi that isn’t cut in front of you by a Michelin-star chef.

The two of them do have to tiptoe around the subject of Juyeon’s occupation, however; even though Juyeon himself seems lackadaisical about telling Kevin, Hyunjae doesn’t quite feel ready to explain that the guy he started seeing a little over a month ago is the ringleader of a massive crime syndicate to his overprotective best friend. That’s why when he gets up to go to the bathroom, he fixes Juyeon with a warning look behind Kevin’s back.

“Kevin, how’s the exhibition coming along? Did you manage to-”

Juyeon is interrupted by a Kevin Moon who suddenly looks a lot less friendly than he did a second ago.

“Let’s cut to the chase. You know how this bit with the best friend goes I’m sure,” he says frostily.

Juyeon looks at him blankly. “Er...not really no.” This throws Kevin off as he cocks his head. “You’ve never had a best friend threaten you if you hurt their pal?”

Juyeon knows he can’t explain by saying that no one’s ever really threatened him and left the room alive so he settles on an alternate but equally true explanation. “Hyunjae is the first person I’ve dated seriously,” he says.

“Oh.” Kevin looks momentarily puzzled. “Uh...okay I have to rework my speech, give me a second.” Juyeon watches in amusement as Kevin’s face twitches and his mouth moves impossibly fast, as if someone has hit fast-forward on him through a long speech. “Alright I’m ready.” He takes a deep breath.

“Let’s cut to the chase. It’s very simple — if you hurt Hyunjae, I will break your kneecaps with a rusty pipe. I have distant relatives in the Moon mob clan who will happily answer my call,” he says, threateningly waving a skinny finger in Juyeon’s face. Juyeon manages to stifle a chuckle — the Moon Family is a tiny one and also deeply indebted to TBZ, but Kevin doesn’t need to know that. Instead, he just nods solemnly, saying, “I understand. If any hurt comes to Hyunjae because of me, I’ll hand you the pipe myself.”

Kevin stares at him shrewdly for a second before his pretty features break back into a smile. “Cool. Anyway, my exhibition is coming along fine, although one of the sculptures is a total mess,” he chirps, slurping happily at his matcha smoothie.

“You didn’t tell me that,” Hyunjae says, reappearing. “I would’ve come and sat with you to figure it out.”

Kevin shrugs. “You were busy. Wanna come sit with me today? Juyeon-hyung you’re welcome as well of course.” Hyunjae and Juyeon exchange looks, and Juyeon nods because he incidentally happens to have the whole afternoon free.

Before they leave the mall, however, Hyunjae forces Juyeon into the bathroom with one of his shopping bags, complaining, “I don’t want to be seen around campus with you in a three piece suit.” Begrudgingly, Juyeon pulls out the pedestrian looking jeans, long T-shirt and sneakers he’s been handed, grimacing displeasedly at his reflection in the mirror. When he comes out, Hyunjae and Kevin are both staring, open-mouthed.

“What?” he grumbles, pulling at the T-shirt. 

“Nothing you just look so...normal,” Hyunjae swallows. If he’s being honest, the way the T-shirt pulls tightly against Juyeon’s chest is making his throat a little dry, but he’s _not_ going to be honest with himself today. “You look younger than usual.”

“Yes, because I’m dressed like some sort of street ruffian,” Juyeon grunts. “Are you sure this T-shirt is the right size? It’s ridiculously long.”

Kevin bats his tugging hand away. “You’ll ruin the fabric, and yes, this is in style with all the local ruffians now,” he says, smirking.

Juyeon can only cast his eyes to the heavens before following the other two irritably to the carpark. They’re about to get into the car when a lovely voice calls out to them from across the lot.

“Lee Juyeon, fancy seeing you here.” A painfully beautiful woman is walking towards them, two enormous men flanking her. She has the sort of beauty that makes you question if your eyes are deceiving you, an obtrusive allure that has Hyunjae balking. Juyeon smiles, handsome if not disengaged, at her, bowing.

“I could say the same for you, Min Miyoung-ssi,” he says politely. The woman laughs, pressing an elegantly varnished hand over his chest in a teasing push. “So formal all the time, Juyeonie. You should really call me noona given that we basically grew up together,” she says with a serene smile.

Kevin and Hyunjae stare unabashedly at the woman, exchanging looks of alarm at the intimacy with which she addresses Juyeon. Juyeon for his part just shakes his head with a smile, as if they’ve had this conversation a hundred times before.

The woman continues, “I’ve never seen you looking so casual. Very handsome Juyeonie,” she smirks with perfectly defined red lips. “I was just thinking, we should- Oh!” She seems to notice Hyunjae and Kevin standing by the car for the first time. “Who’re these adorable boys?”

Juyeon steps back to introduce them, and Hyunjae has never felt smaller than he does in front of the Min Miyoung’s calculating gaze. “This is Moon Hyungseo and Lee Hyunjae,” Juyeon says with a comforting hand on Hyunjae’s shoulder. They exchange bows, Miyoung’s eyes trained razor sharp on Juyeon’s hand.

“They’re awfully young for hired help, Juyeonie,” she murmurs with a frown. Juyeon is about to correct her when her cellphone beeps. “Oh, that’s my brother. He sends his love I’m sure. Give him a call sometime so you can take me out to dinner darling,” she says, pressing a kiss to Juyeon’s face before striding off in her patent leather heels.

When she turns the corner, Juyeon scrubs his cheek furiously, face aflame. “Jesus,” he mutters as he turns back around to Kevin and Hyunjae whose eyebrows have disappeared into their hairlines at this point. Their displeased and inquiring faces cause Juyeon to stop short. “What?”

Kevin gargles in disbelief and Hyunjae asks snidely, “Who was that ‘Juyeonie’?” Juyeon blinks at the irritation rolling off Hyunjae in veritable waves.

“She’s an old Family friend, I grew up with her and her brother. They’ve been asking to meet recently but I just haven’t had the time,” Juyeon explains. Although he hears the implicit capitalisation of ‘Family’, Hyunjae can only stare at him, gesturing to the still-present lipstick print on his face.

“And are you going to be taking your _darling_ out on a date?!” he squawks, gesticulating wildly.

It’s Juyeon’s turn to stare with a small frown marring his features. “No of course not. Why would I do that? _You’re_ my boyfriend,” he says, like it’s the simplest thing in the world. “Are you upset or something?” Juyeon asks, wrapping an arm protectively around Hyunjae’s shoulders.

Hyunjae pouts grumpily. “Or something. I didn’t like watching her slobber all over you.” Juyeon responds with a laugh. “Silly, I’m yours,” — as if it solves everything. He plants a kiss on Hyunjae’s temple before opening the car door for him and Kevin. As he’s getting in himself, he hears Hyunjae whisper to Kevin, “Men are fucking dumbasses.” Kevin only nods vehemently in agreement.   
  


~~  
  


Hyunjae is laying in bed and obsessively replaying (again) the way Miyoung had so brazenly kissed Juyeon’s cheek like Hyunjae didn’t exist a week ago. Granted, she didn’t know they were together, but the familiarity that Miyoung and Juyeon shared deeply upset him. Even though they’ve been dating for just short of a couple months, Hyunjae frowns at the thought that there’s still so much he doesn’t know about Juyeon. He checks the time on his phone, wincing at the suddenly bright light. It’s 1 AM but he knows Juyeon is probably still awake given that crime sleeps for no one - he chuckles at his own wit.

 _Nightingale_ :

What shoe size do you wear?

It’s not a second later that his phone buzzes back.

 _Al Capone_ :

11.5. You?  
Also why?

 _Nightingale_ :

11 and idk I was just curious  
I feel like I don’t know a lot about you

 _Al Capone_ :

Is this something that can wait or do you want to do this at 1AM?

 _Nightingale_ :

1AM if you aren’t too busy

His phone rings.

“Juyeon?” he asks, surprised.

“Yeah, just thought it would be easier for you to ask questions over the phone,” comes the chuckled response. He can hear papers rustling in the background.

Hyunjae smiles, touched that Juyeon would call him so late at night in the middle of working just to quell his curiosity. “Okay. What’s your favourite flavour of bingsu?” There’s a small pause before Juyeon sheepishly replies, “Mango.”

“What! Then how come you always get strawberry for us to share?” Hyunjae cries. Juyeon’s laughter on the other end is warm and adoring. “Because it’s your favourite flavour, little bird.” And no, Hyunjae’s heart didn’t just do a little skip-and-a-step at that. He’s making silent heart eyes when he suddenly realises he’s missing a rather crucial piece of information about Juyeon.

“Wait, how old are you?” There’s a silence.

“26. Don’t you know this?” Juyeon asks, amused. Hyunjae blushes because who gets into a relationship with someone without knowing their age? “No, I guess it just slipped my mind to ask. Should I call you hyung then?”

Juyeon laughs again. “Sorry I didn’t tell you, I just thought it had come up already. And no, not if you don’t want to. I kind of like your impertinence.” Hyunjae huffs and rolls his - “I can _hear_ you rolling your eyes little bird.”

“How do you know Min Miyoung?” Hyunjae asks tentatively. He’s not sure he wants to know the answer but the question has been burning in his brain for the last seven days. He hears Juyeon sigh heavily over the phone.

“We grew up together. Our fathers were somewhere between friends and colleagues — the Min Family is another powerful syndicate in the underground, so we always saw each other at social functions and had play dates when we were very little. A long time ago, my father and their father discussed an...” he pauses for a second, mulling over his next words. “An agreement of sorts. To join families.”

Hyunjae sucks in alarmed gasp. “And? Is this agreement still in place?”

Juyeon scoffs. “Fuck no! The day my father died, I sent them a note telling them it was off. I don’t know how seriously they were banking on it, but I told them that under no uncertain terms would I be marrying Miyoung.” He pauses again, and Hyunjae waits with bated breath to hear what he has to say. “Besides, I like dick anyway.”

Hyunjae can’t help the ugly snort that comes sputtering out. “Oh my _god_ , you’re so uncouth,” he cackles. Even so, his heart feels lighter now that he’s heard Juyeon speak so firmly about his lack of relationship with that woman.

Juyeon chuckles too, but then says seriously, “I’m sorry about the other day. I was really irritated that she thought you were my employee or something but I couldn’t correct her before she left. I’ll send them another note just to reaffirm that nothing will happen between our families.”

Hyunjae snickers, “What, you’re gonna send them a note that says ‘Hi I like dick, specifically Lee Hyunjae’s, sorry, hope you’re well’?” There’s a beat.

“Kinda,” Juyeon says blankly. This sends Hyunjae into another peal of laughter.

“You can’t just come out and say it like that!”

“What, I can’t announce that I’m a raging homosexual in a relationship on a delivered piece of paper?” Juyeon teases. “Alright, one more question and then you have to go to sleep,” he says sternly. Hyunjae chuckles, acquiescing. “Okay, what’s your favourite colour?” Juyeon hums as he thinks.

“It used to be light green but recently it’s been honey,” he murmurs softly.

“Why’s that?”

“It’s a happy colour, and it reminds me of you. Your hair looks honey coloured under the sun,” Juyeon says so gently it hurts.

“Oh.” How can one man make his heart clench with just a few words? Hyunjae is smiling so hard his face aches, but his chest feels full and fluttery. “I’ll go to sleep now. Goodnight Juyeon,” he says, thumb inadvertently stroking his phone like it’s Juyeon’s hand.

“Goodnight little bird.” Hyunjae hangs up and falls asleep to dreams of sunlit fields and Juyeon.   
  


~~  
  


Days later, Hyunjae is reading at his kitchen table when his phone buzzes.

 _Al Capone_ :

Hello little bird.  
Are you busy right now?  
/ Are you busy for the rest of the night?

Hyunjae blinks surprisedly at the screen. Juyeon rarely texts him during the day, preferring instead to message or call at night time to avoid interrupting Hyunjae’s studying time. The sentiment had made Hyunjae heart clench a little when Juyeon first explained why he was so absent.

 _Nightingale_ :

Nah  
Sup?

Instantly his phone vibrates with a response.

 _Al Capone_ :

You text like a teenager.  
Regardless, come downstairs.

Hyunjae’s face lights up, his thumbs tapping quickly against his phone screen.

 _Nightingale_ :

Kk

When he gets downstairs, he sees Juyeon leaning against his car, looking positively sinful in his dark suit and sunglasses. A small gaggle of girls across the street is squealing and talking behind their hands as they admire his boyfriend, who has a slightly too-pleased expression on his face.

With a roll of his eyes, Hyunjae pushes the door open. “Could you possibly look smugger?” he says flatly, crossing his arms. Juyeon chuckles as he takes off his sunglasses, eyes sparkling.

“I could definitely try for you dearest,” he intones impishly. The retort on the tip of Hyunjae’s tongue dies a swift death when he hears the pet name, heat flooding his cheeks.

“ _Totally_ uncivilised,” he sputters, walking around the car to hop in. He hears Juyeon laugh before climbing in himself, and he quickly takes Hyunjae’s hand to press a kiss to his knuckles.

“You like it,” he teases, brushing a stray lock of hair away from Hyunjae’s face. Hyunjae rolls his eyes again, but conspicuously doesn’t deny the claim. As they drive away from campus, he asks, “So where are we going anyway?”

Juyeon glances at him, his normally cool facade suddenly becoming a little nervous. “Uh...I thought, maybe, if you want, we could go to my place. In the city. I want to show you my place in the city,” he mutters. Hyunjae’s eyes crinkle into a warm smile that immediately eases Juyeon’s nerves.

“That sounds nice.”

When he steps into Juyeon’s penthouse apartment not forty minutes later, Hyunjae is relieved to see how much homier it is than his father’s house. Although he still has no personal photographs hanging, there are small things scattered around that offer a sense of the inhabitant’s personality, such as a framed picture of a European countryside on the wall and a painted scroll of Japanese cherry blossoms.

Hyunjae wanders over to the picture of Europe while Juyeon hangs their jackets. “What’s this from?” he asks inquiringly. Juyeon grins like he’s reliving a fond memory. “I studied abroad in Germany for a year and that was the view outside of my window.” Hyunjae’s expression is surprised, and he tucks the information away to ask about later, because then Juyeon is pressing a warm hand to the small of his back and showing him around the apartment.

It’s enormous, and the views from out of the floor to ceiling windows are breathtaking, all of Seoul stretching out before them. Hyunjae marvels at the well equipped home gym Juyeon shows him, stares at the massive hot tub in the bathroom, and snickers at the black silk sheets adorning Juyeon’s bed.

“You’re such a cliche,” he laughs, poking Juyeon in the side.

“They’re comfortable okay?” Juyeon defends. A slow smirk stretches across his face, and before Hyunjae can ask what his devious little mind is plotting, Juyeon tackles him onto the bed, rolling them around the luxurious sheets as he teases, “See, don’t you agree?”

Hyunjae shrieks in laughter, yelling, “Geroff!” in between tumbles as he tried to shove the bigger man off him. They eventually settle down, Juyeon’s body draped languidly over Hyunjae’s. The room suddenly feels a couple degrees too warm, as Hyunjae stares up into Juyeon’s dark eyes.

“You...look good on my bed,” he says lowly, one hand coming to stroke Hyunjae’s neck. “ _Really_ good.”

Hyunjae licks his lip nervously, and the movement makes Juyeon rumble deep in his chest, staring at the pink tip wetting Hyunjae’s lips. Juyeon leans down to slide his mouth over Hyunjae’s, his own tongue going to trace the moisture left on Hyunjae’s pretty mouth, and Hyunjae melts into the kiss. When he goes to deepen it, sliding a toned thigh over Juyeon’s back, however, Juyeon pulls off, quickly rolling to the side of Hyunjae and subtly adjusting his trousers.

Hyunjae makes a noise of indignant questioning, irritated that he’s been left flushed and wanting. Juyeon looks over at him, taking cleansing breaths as he does so. “I don’t want you to think that I’m just in this for sex,” he explains gruffly. Hyunjae stares at him.

“ _What?_ ”

Juyeon sighs, leaning up on one arm. “I don’t want you to think I’m just seeing you for sex,” he repeats. “The last time we saw each other we did stuff, and I want to give you space so that you can decide when the time is right.”

Hyunjae blinks at him, dumbfounded.

“You- _what?_ ” he asks again. Juyeon gives him a stubborn look, and Hyunjae knows he’s already lost this battle. “You- oh my god, okay. I’ll let you know when I’m ‘ready’.” He uses air quotes as sarcastically as he can but Juyeon seems unfazed, giving him a pleased smile. Hyunjae doesn’t say out loud that he’s _currently_ ready and very horny because that would just be undignified even though it’s painfully true.

That night, as he sits on the counter swinging his legs, Hyunjae watches Juyeon move about his large kitchen with surprising finesse. They had gone to the grocery store together earlier, which had been a trying experience to say the least.

(“Juyeon, I don’t think there’s an operative difference between organic gochujang and plain gochujang.”

“Yes there is, one is organic, and the other is for peasants.”

“...I hope you _choke_ on your organic gochujang, Lee Juyeon.”)

Nonetheless, here they are, and Juyeon is still alive thanks to Hyunjae’s excellent self restraint. He smiles as he listens to Juyeon nod his head along to the song playing on his speakers, Julienning carrots into shockingly thin strips.

“How come you’re so good at cooking?” he asks curiously. Juyeon’s expression becomes poignant as he replies quietly, “My mother always had me in the kitchen with her when she cooked for us.”

This is the first time Juyeon has mentioned his mother since his whispered confession that first night he stayed at Hyunjae’s apartment, and Hyunjae’s eyes go wide. Before he can say anything, Juyeon chuckles lightly, changing the subject. “Do you cook often?”

Hyunjae snaps out of his surprise, and nods. “Simple stuff mostly, but I uh...fry food a lot.” Juyeon laughs, his eyes lighting up at the memory of their first encounter.

“That fried chicken you made was very good,” he says teasingly, feline eyes turning into little crescents. Hyunjae throws a chopped cucumber slice at him, which he deftly catches in his open mouth, leading him to yell triumphantly. The sight of his elegant neck thrown back in laughter makes Hyunjae’s heart quiver in his ribcage.

“You were such a Neanderthal that day,” he says tartly, munching on another slice of cucumber. Juyeon smirks at him over his shoulder, returning to the pork belly sizzling on the stove.

“Couldn’t help it. Here I was, innocently dropping something off at my dongsaeng’s apartment, when I was practically assaulted by the loveliest voice I’ve ever heard,” he replies matter-of-factly. This makes Hyunjae’s ears turn bright red. “And then, to make matters worse, _you_ come traipsing out of the bathroom in clothes so wet I could see your abs through them, _reeking_ of my scent. What’s a man supposed to do?” Juyeon continues, tossing the meat.

Hyunjae’s strangled noise makes him turn around finally, an amused smile stretched across his face. “You could’ve _not_ ogled a total stranger, you animal,” he forces out with a choked voice.

Juyeon walks towards him, slotting himself between Hyunjae’s spread knees. “Maybe, but I was really rather enamoured by you, darling,” he whispers, before kissing Hyunjae tenderly. Hyunjae reciprocates eagerly, looping his arms around Juyeon’s neck while large warm hands rest on his narrow waist, his stomach filled with butterflies from the sweet declaration.

The pork is a little burnt that night, but as he chews on the pieces Juyeon feeds him, Hyunjae feels rather satiated with joy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Some fluffier chapters this week for you. Check back on Thursday for the next update!


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Posting a little earlier since tomorrow is the next Road to Kingdom episode so I didn’t want to clash. Go watch our boys perform, and enjoy the update!

Hyunjae is lying in Juyeon’s bed when Juyeon effectively prom-poses to him. He’s sitting up with the bedside lamp lit, reading a heavy textbook with a sheet mask on that’s ever so slightly dried out from how old it is, but when he sees movement out of the corner of his eye, he looks up.

There, Juyeon stands with a bouquet of lilies and a big white cake with the word “Ball?” written on it in pink icing. Hyunjae stares at him, the cake, then back at him.

“The fuck is this?” he asks, baffled.

Juyeon bursts out laughing, sitting down on the bed in front of Hyunjae. “I don’t know, Kevin told me his cousins in Canada do this thing for a party in high school, so I thought it’d be funny- anyway, there’s an event I have to go to next Saturday and I’d love it if you came.”

Hyunjae blinks as he processes this information. “Uh...okay?”

“He said yes!” Juyeon shouts, waving to something on the other side of the bed. Hyunjae squints until he spots Juyeon’s phone propped up, having filmed the entire thing.

“Yah! You took a video of me looking like this?!” he yells, diving under the blankets. Juyeon chuckles as he crosses the room to turn off the video, “Don’t worry, no one except Kevin and maybe Chanhee will see it, and only if Chanhee hacks into my phone again.” A pillow whizzes past his head, but Juyeon dodges it with lightning fast reflexes, the cake still balanced steadily in one hand.

“If Chanhee sees it, that means Changmin sees it, which means Younghoon does too, and then I’m going to have to _kill_ you Juyeon,” Hyunjae hisses from under the sheets. “What is this event anyway?” he grumbles, finally emerging after peeling his mask off and dumping it on the bedside table.

Juyeon shifts awkwardly before mumbling, “Just a black tie thing with some of the Families...” Hyunjae gapes at him.

“You’re inviting me to a criminal convention?” he squeaks, face paling considerably.

“No!” Juyeon exclaims. “Well, not really. More of an annual mingling of the important people in the...industry.”

“The _criminal_ industry,” Hyunjae clarifies, brown eyes still wide. Juyeon sighs heavily before saying gently, “You don’t have to go if you’re not comfortable. I would completely understand, little bird.”

Hyunjae chews on lip, weighing his options. “There won’t be any actual crime going down right?” he asks, fixing Juyeon with a look.

“None at all,” Juyeon says, face slowly brightening. Hyunjae slumps with a sigh.

“Fine, I’ll go. But only if you spoon feed me cake for the rest of the night.”

Juyeon grins, nudging Hyunjae’s cheek with his nose sweetly before disappearing to grab a fork. Hyunjae eats cake until he’s sick, and then, as an additional thank you, Juyeon sucks him off spectacularly until he shrieks.  
  


~~  
  


The gala is as lavish as Hyunjae had expected, perhaps even more so. He’s suddenly grateful that Chanhee and Kevin forced him into all of the luxury fashion houses a few days ago while waving Juyeon’s credit card manically because at least he doesn’t feel as out of place now that he’s wearing Dior.

Juyeon’s warm hand slips into his as he steps out of the car after Hyunjae, Han Kwangseok dipping his head in goodbye before he drives off.

“Have I told you how you incredible you look yet?” he murmurs huskily into Hyunjae’s ear, warm breath washing over his neck that makes his skin prickle feverishly. It’s true, Hyunjae looks positively ethereal tonight in his pale silver shirt and charcoal grey tuxedo jacket, the buttons undone so that his delicate collar bones peak out tantalisingly. “Only five times,” Hyunjae snickers, squeezing Juyeon’s hand back.

“You look very handsome too,” he whispers, pressing a quick kiss to Juyeon’s cheek as he beams. 

When they enter the ballroom, it feels like every eye is on him and their joint hands. Hyunjae desperately tries to keep his blush under control, but thankfully, Younghoon and Changmin wander up to them before he has to face the crowds of people staring at him and Juyeon.

“You guys look great,” Hyunjae says with a smile. The two lovebirds have coordinated so that their tuxedos are inverted colours of one another. Changmin fingers Hyunjae’s billowing silver shirt tucked under his tuxedo jacket admiringly before whispering, “Chanhee?”

“Of course,” Hyunjae laughs, and, as if he was listening, the pink haired boy lifts his champagne glass to him with an arch smile on his pretty lips from across the room while Hyunjae winks back.

“Sorry guys, I have to go pay respects to the other heads of households,” Juyeon grimaces, and Changmin and Younghoon smile a last time before slipping away, leaving Hyunjae to be led around the room by Juyeon. Hyunjae’s brain is swimming with names as he meets Family after Family - the Kims, the Songs, the Juns - simultaneously trying to make sense of every face while determinedly forgetting that they’re the big leaders of organised crime.

It’s not until he sees a particular familiar face that Hyunjae feels his hackles rise. Min Miyoung is walking towards him and Juyeon with a handsome man at her side, the two of them radiating power and elegance in their designer evening wear.

“Hello again Juyeonie,” she smiles like a black widow about to devour its prey.

Juyeon bows, as does Hyunjae, saying, “Pleasure to see you again, Min Miyoung-ssi, Min Mansoo-ssi.”

“Juyeonie, I’m surprised you brought your manservant to the gala,” Miyoung says sweetly, her eyes ice cold as they run over Hyunjae’s face. Hyunjae grits his teeth, and he feels Juyeon’s hand in his tighten.

“Min Miyoung-ssi, as I mentioned in my note, Hyunjae and I are together. I apologise for any miscommunication that may have transpired in the past, but please do not refer to my boyfriend as my manservant,” Juyeon says tightly, but still endlessly polite.

Miyoung’s brother pipes up then, his voice pleasant but with a dangerous edge, “We were surprised to receive your note, Juyeon.” His eyes flicker to Hyunjae disparagingly before he continues, “We were under the impression that our families had an understanding.”

Juyeon’s eyebrow raises, an aloof, unimpressed look washing over his face. “I hardly think this is the locale to be discussing such intimate business, but yes, as you can see, circumstances have changed,” he murmurs, his even tone deceptively calm. Hyunjae can see the tightness in Juyeon’s chiselled jaw and the throb of the vein in his neck.

Mansoo is about to retort when Miyoung lays a manicured hand over her brother’s chest. “Come by for dinner sometime, Juyeonie. I’m sure I can help change your mind,” she says saccharinely before looping her arm through her brother’s and disappearing into the crowd.

Hyunjae watches them leave, then turns to look at Juyeon. His boyfriend’s dark eyes are glinting furiously, the muscle in his jaw twitching as he stares after them. “Juyeon...” Hyunjae murmurs, pressing a placating hand against Juyeon’s chest. The touch seems to snap Juyeon out of it, the wrath in his eyes melting away.

“Sorry,” he says shortly, taking Hyunjae’s hand. He leads them to the middle of the ballroom where people are dancing and places Hyunjae’s hand on his shoulder. “Dance with me, little bird,” he requests softly, and Hyunjae can’t help but comply. He folds himself into Juyeon’s embrace, breathing in the comforting scent. The world seems to melt away when he’s in Juyeon’s arms until it’s just him and Juyeon, swaying to the music that fills the room in elegant refrains.

“You mean... _so much_ to me,” Juyeon suddenly says, gruffly. Hyunjae starts, looking up into Juyeon’s face. The look in Juyeon’s eyes is fierce but so tender as he peers down that it makes Hyunjae’s breath catch in his throat. “I know,” he murmurs back, leaning in so that their noses touch.

“I will never let anything happen to you. You are very important to me, little bird,” Juyeon says, leaning his forehead against Hyunjae’s with his eyes closed. And with the way his hand tightens on Hyunjae’s back, Hyunjae doesn’t doubt that Juyeon would move heaven and earth to keep him safe.

A little later, Hyunjae is thrust into the care of Younghoon and Changmin when Juyeon has to disappear to take a call. They’re chatting merrily at the bar, Juyeon’s heated declaration still warming his heart, when Hyunjae feels a presence by his shoulder. He turns to find a greasy looking older man staring at him openly.

Hyunjae blinks uncomfortably, shifting so that there’s more space between himself and person ogling him unabashedly. Before he can do so, however, one yellow-nailed hand grabs his wrist in an uncompromising grip.

“I saw you from across the room earlier and couldn’t not come introduce myself,” the man’s putrid breath washes across Hyunjae’s face, and he struggles to keep himself from wincing. “I’m Ri Byungho,” the stranger says, bowing.

“Lee Hyunjae,” he mutters back. “Please let go of my hand.” He feels Changmin and Younghoon tense beside him.

If anything, Byungho’s grip gets tighter. “Don’t be silly, we haven’t even had a chance to dance yet, you lovely thing,” he says lasciviously, tracing a gnarled fingernail over Hyunjae’s knuckles. Hyunjae’s temper flares.

“Alright, I was trying to be polite earlier but you clearly have no sense of propriety. _Get the fuck off me_ ,” he hisses, yanking his hand away finally. Byungho is relentless, however, sinking his claws into Hyunjae’s arm, a salacious smile stretching over his teeth. Hyunjae is about to spit in Byungho’s face when Changmin’s voice, eerily calm, intones behind him.

“Wouldn’t do that if I were you, Byungho.” Suddenly, a shadow looms over Hyunjae, and Juyeon’s warm sandalwood scent engulfs him.

“I believe he asked you to let him go,” Juyeon snarls, his voice as cold as ice. His large hand darts out, knuckles white as he grips Byungho’s arm punishingly hard. Byungho is about to retort when he meets Juyeon’s eyes and it dawns on him who he’s talking to.

He releases Hyunjae like he’s been branded, scuttling away, leaving behind only a rank scent of alcohol and a disgusting feeling on Hyunjae’s arm.

“I could’ve handled that you know,” he mutters, rubbing his arm where Byungho had grabbed him. The vicious fury in Juyeon’s eyes dissipate a little as he turns to Hyunjae, stroking his shoulder softly. 

“I didn’t doubt that you would, I just couldn’t help myself,” he murmured, eyes travelling worriedly over Hyunjae’s face. Hyunjae feels more than sees Changmin and Younghoon slip away to give them space. “Couldn’t stand him touching you like that,” he grits out.

“Tell me about it,” Hyunjae huffs, burying himself in Juyeon’s chest. “I feel like people keep trying to get in between us,” he mumbles, voice muffled by Juyeon’s suit jacket.

Juyeon lets out a small breathy chuckle. “I know. Ridiculous because I’m yours,” he says softly into Hyunjae’s hair, wrapping long arms around his slight frame.

“Mhm, mine,” Hyunjae affirms, his hand snaking under Juyeon’s suit jacket to rest on his back. “Even though I’m so not into the caveman thing, it was kind of sexy the way you intervened,” he whispers teasingly, pressing a kiss to Juyeon’s neck. Juyeon groans softly, his grip on Hyunjae’s waist tightening.

“ _Shit_ , not here baby,” he whimpers as Hyunjae nibbles lightly on the pale column.

“Mm, don’t you want to show everyone you’re mine?” Hyunjae murmurs, continuing to ghost kisses up and down Juyeon’s jaw. “Actually, if you take me home right now, you can show everyone I’m yours by fucking me into the mattress,” Hyunjae muses quietly. He snickers when he feels one of Juyeon’s knees buckle.

“ _Christ_ little bird,” Juyeon groans. “No, we’re not doing that when you’ve just been grabbed by some skeev.” Hyunjae huffs, his hands dropping out of Juyeon’s jacket. 

“So old fashioned,” he mutters irritably while Juyeon presses an apologetic kiss to his temple with a chuckle.

~~

If Hyunjae thinks Juyeon will get over his gentlemanly-hang ups shortly after the ball, he is proven painfully wrong. Two weeks following the gala, Hyunjae slams his backpack down on Kevin’s dining room table with a groan. This elicits a surprised stare from his best friend who jumps at the noise.

“What’s up with you today Hyunjae-ya? You’ve been so pissy,” Kevin asks, concerned.

The blonde just grunts in response, burying his head in his arms as he sits slumped over. “Promise you won’t laugh.” His voice is muffled by his hoodie sleeves so Kevin forcibly pulls his head up.

“Promise, just tell me what’s wrong,” Kevin says with an encouraging smile. Hyunjae eyes him dubiously before sighing with defeat, casting his eyes back down.

“I’m really...horny.”

The silence following his admission makes Hyunjae look up to see Kevin’s face. There’s a distinctly peculiar expression twisting his best friend’s features, and Hyunjae watches in mild alarm as Kevin’s pale skin turns steadily purple.

“Kev are you oka-” Kevin’s shriek of laughter rudely interrupts his inquiry, and once the dam breaks, it seems irreparable, as Kevin howls with laughter and falls off his chair.

“Okay _fuck you_ ,” Hyunjae spits, burying his head back in his arms.

“God, I’m sorry, I just- _HAH-_ sorry, sorry just give me a second,” Kevin says as he takes deep cleansing breaths. When he’s finally calmed down - the intolerable little shit - he turns to Hyunjae with an amused but composed face.

“Alright, I’m ready to be a good friend again. Please explain why you’re ‘really horny’. Is Juyeon’s banana hammock under packed?” he asks, eyebrows twitching with mirth.

“ _Oh my god_ , no!” Hyunjae recoils horrified. “He’s actually hung like a horse and-” Kevin’s gagging noises swiftly redirect him back on course. “Okay my bad. He’s just so...I don’t know, careful? With me.”

Kevin throws him a sceptical look. “The first time you kissed he gave you a hickey the size of Australia.” Hyunjae shakes his head dejectedly. “I know! But it’s been over two months and we haven’t had sex cause he has some stupid notion of waiting to be ‘respectful of my space’, and I have _needs_ Kev.”

“Okay please never say the words ‘I have needs’ in my immediate vicinity again, and also why don’t you just seduce him?” Kevin asks, a nauseated expression on his face. Hyunjae’s blank stare in return makes him huff. “Like, send him a sexy picture and then wait for him naked or something. I don’t know, you watch porn!”

Hyunjae sputters, face bright red. “ _Ew_ , I’m not going to have him pretend he’s a pizza man who spontaneously has sex with me.”

Kevin gapes at him. “Are you watching porn from the eighties or something? That’s not a thing anymore hyung. Seriously, try the picture idea.”

Hyunjae makes a face, but really, beggars can’t be choosers. He sighs in agreement, before pulling his books out for their study session, when he suddenly thinks of something.

“Kev?”

“Yeah?”

“Could I maybe send you the picture beforehand just to-”

“ _TOO FAR._ ”

“Yep, yep that’s fair.”

~~

Juyeon picks at a loose hangnail, thinking absentmindedly about when the last time he had a manicure was. He’s at a painfully boring meeting with one of his arms suppliers, and although Juyeon normally lets Sunwoo run talks anyway, he’s feeling particularly disengaged today because it’s been a week since he’s had time to see Hyunjae.

Just as he’s about to accidentally tear the hangnail too deep into his flesh, his phone buzzes. Lazily and without bothering to hide it, he checks the home screen. Juyeon’s face brightens a fraction when he sees that it’s a text from his boyfriend.

His expression quickly morphs from pleased to dumbfounded, however, when he sees what Hyunjae has sent. _Holy fuck_. It’s a naked picture of the pretty blonde kneeling on Juyeon’s bed at his apartment. Juyeon’s mouth goes dry; never in a million years had he thought that adding Hyunjae’s thumbprint to his keyless door lock would result in _this_.

Juyeon swallows with difficulty as his eyes travel from Hyunjae’s messy golden hair to his hooded eyes, his incredible abs down to his lovely leaking cock. It’s flushed rosy pink, and Hyunjae has one small hand wrapped around the base of it as he stares into the camera. Only then does Juyeon notice Hyunjae’s reflection in the mirror by the head of the bed — there, in perfect HD glory, is Hyunjae’s plump ass with two unbelievably sexy dimples right on top of it. Juyeon’s grip on his phone tightens as he feels his own cock springing to attention, painfully hard against his fly. Those dimples are going to destroy him, he thinks with a silent groan. He needs to excuse himself from the meeting _now_.

Forty minutes later, still naked and languidly stroking his cock on Juyeon’s king sized bed, Hyunjae gets an anticipated text.

_Al Capone:_

I had to jerk myself off in the bathroom in the middle of a meeting because of this.

Hyunjae giggles, even as a flash of desire shoots through him leaving him almost breathless with arousal. The thought of Juyeon being so turned on that he has to fuck his own hand in a bathroom makes him bite his lip, his own cock beginning to ache in earnest now.

He’s about to begin pumping his hand concertedly when he hears the front door to Juyeon’s penthouse open. Confused, Hyunjae props himself up on one arm — Juyeon isn’t meant to be back for another hour at least. He’s about to call out to the guards stationed by the lift when the bedroom door swings open.

There, Juyeon stands, suit jacket off and top buttons of his shirt undone, eyes ablaze, travelling down Hyunjae’s body like he’s going to eat him alive. Hyunjae is frozen, a little in embarrassment but mostly in arousal as he lets himself be torn apart by Juyeon’s gaze. Finally, their eyes meet, and Juyeon’s lovely lips curve into a predatory smirk.

“Did you think that was funny, little bird?” he murmurs, stalking over to the bed. “Did you think it would be funny to make me so hard it hurt in the middle of an important meeting?” he croons, nosing along Hyunjae’s bared neck. Hyunjae can only gasp in response, fisting his hands in Juyeon’s inky hair.

“What were you hoping to get out of that, hm?” Juyeon asks, pulling back to stare heatedly at Hyunjae. Mustering up as much snark as he can, Hyunjae raises an eyebrow. “To get you to finally fuck me of course.” Juyeon’s eyes darken, pupils blowing out as he grins with sharp canines.

“Mm, I see,” he whispers, dipping back down to caress kisses along the column of Hyunjae’s neck. Suddenly, he sinks his teeth into Hyunjae’s shoulder, sucking forcefully as Hyunjae lets out a shocked moan. “I’m going to _wreck_ you, little bird,” Juyeon snarls, staring at the mark he’s made. Hyunjae can only whimper softly, arching his back to press against Juyeon as he lets out a soft “ _Please_ ”.

Quick as lightning, Juyeon flips Hyunjae over so that he’s on his front, aching cock pressed against the cool silk sheets. With startling strength, Juyeon forces Hyunjae’s legs open, growling loudly at the sight of his winking pink entrance. He runs a hand reverently over Hyunjae’s thigh, coming up to squeeze his ass cheek hard enough to leave a momentary handprint. Watching him over his shoulder with impatient hooded eyes, Hyunjae clenches hard to make Juyeon do something, eliciting a low groan from the dark-haired man.

“Fuck your ass is incredible,” he mumbles as he presses hot, wet kisses all over Hyunjae’s plump globes. “And these dimples, fuck,” he grits out, pressing his thumbs into them while he grips Hyunjae’s hips. “I came so hard thinking about fucking you while digging my fingers into these dimples,” he growls, laving his tongue into the small indents. Hyunjae whines, soft and breathy, pressing his ass back into Juyeon’s face.

“Mm you like that idea baby?” Juyeon murmurs. “Or do you just want to be eaten out, pretty boy?” When Hyunjae only moans in response, a large hand comes flying down on his right ass cheek, the smacking echoing obscenely in the room. “Answer me, and I might just do it,” Juyeon hisses dangerously, gripping the cheek so hard Hyunjae thinks he’ll leave bruises. “I-I don’t know, _both_ , p-please Juyeon!” he cries softly, writhing his hips to gain some friction.

“Greedy little thing,” Juyeon responds with a smile. He runs a thumb over Hyunjae’s quivering hole, gently petting the furled entrance, before pressing into it. The dry burn of the tip of Juyeon’s thumb makes Hyunjae cry out, hips canting backwards for more. The sight of Hyunjae’s hips raised in the air and the pretty pink entrance desperately trying to suck his thumb in makes Juyeon’s control snap. With a snarl, he pulls his thumb out and yanks Hyunjae’s plump cheeks apart, painting sopping wet strokes over the crack. Hyunjae shrieks, “ _God_ yes!”, as he tries to grind his hips into the wet muscle slathering his entrance.

Juyeon lays down on the bed, grabbing Hyunjae’s hips with so much force that Hyunjae’s upper body is forced upright. “Sit on my face baby,” Juyeon grunts, pulling Hyunjae’s ass down. The blonde immediately complies, sobbing loudly as he rides Juyeon’s tongue which is now shoved deep into his puffy hole. “Oh fuck, oh fuck, that’s so f-fucking good,” he cries, whipping his hips furiously as he chases his orgasm. He wails loudly when he feels Juyeon reach up to press two fingers into his entrance, spearing them so that they’re slamming into Hyunjae’s prostate relentlessly.

“Oh fuck I’m gonna come,” Hyunjae whines, feeling his balls draw up deliciously tight. Suddenly, a large hand is gripping the base of his cock harshly, preventing him from careening off the edge. Juyeon lifts Hyunjae off his face, so that he can hover over him dangerously, “ _Not yet._ ” Hyunjae stares at him disbelievingly, his arousal making him utterly desperate as he begs, “ _No_ please, wanna come, _p-please_ Juyeon!” Juyeon silences his pleas with a rough kiss before pushing him so that he’s laying on his back, legs splayed, and resumes fingering him with renewed vigour.

“Hold it pretty baby, I want the first time you come tonight to be around my cock,” he grunts, arm pumping mercilessly up into Hyunjae’s aching prostate. Hyunjae begins to sob, real tears catching on his long lashes as he writhes from the overstimulation. “Please J-Juyeon, please fuck me, wanna be fucked by your cock baby,” he cries pitifully, small hands scrabbling at Juyeon’s broad shoulders. And when he’s begging so prettily like that, how could Juyeon possibly resist?

He shushes him with a quick kiss, before reaching over to his bedside table to grab the lube. Hyunjae watches, still whining loudly, as Juyeon quickly tears off his shirt and trousers, admiring the way the dark ink looks against the pale skin of Juyeon’s chest and the large, angry red cock that springs out of the confines of his pressed slacks. 

“Are you sure you’re ready sweetheart? We don’t have to go further, I can always just-” Juyeon’s concern is cut off with a snap when Hyunjae flips over onto his front, presenting his quivering hole covered in Juyeon’s spit.

“If you don’t stuff me full right now,” Hyunjae threatens, his eyes wild and wrathful, “I’m going to-”

“Okay baby, shh, gonna give you my cock in just a second,” Juyeon soothes with a small chuckle as he slathers himself and Hyunjae in a fistful of lubricant. Unable to form words from how painfully aroused he is, Hyunjae can only whimper softly in relief. Juyeon brings his hips up so that Hyunjae is kneeling with his ass pressed against Juyeon’s twitching cock. The slide in of Juyeon’s massive length is achingly slow, but Hyunjae lets out a delirious, “ _Oh_ ,” when he finally bottoms out, heavy balls pressing against the back of Hyunjae’s milky thighs.

Slowly, too slowly, Juyeon pulls out to thrust back into Hyunjae, and the blonde whines, gripping the sheets in white knuckled fists as he begs, “Please faster, need it faster.” Juyeon grunts as he finally, _finally_ , complies, hips snapping viciously as he pounds into Hyunjae while the blonde lets out a scream. One enormous hand grips Hyunjae’s hip ferociously hard, his thumb pressing painfully into Hyunjae’s dimple so that his skin blossoms with a lovely bruise.

Juyeon fucks him with single-minded focus, but when the dark slanted eyes look up for a second, his hips stutter as he lets out a loud groan. “Oh _fuck_ , little bird, you look so fucking pretty all splayed out like this baby,” he grits out, fisting his other hand into Hyunjae’s honey-coloured locks to raise his head.

There, staring straight ahead at them, is their reflection in the mirror by Juyeon’s bed. Hyunjae’s eyes immediately flutter shut, the image too arousing for him to keep looking at it without coming spontaneously. Juyeon sees Hyunjae’s eyes squeeze shut and grabs him by the jaw to lift him up so that Hyunjae’s sweat-slicked back is pressed into Juyeon’s front. “Keep your eyes open, little bird. I want you to watch me fuck you,” he snarls into Hyunjae’s ear before biting down on his neck to leave another possessive mark on Hyunjae’s pale skin.

Hyunjae is helpless to comply, wailing loudly as Juyeon resumes his relentless thrusting, while the hand gripping his hip comes to hold his twitching, angry red cock to stave off his orgasm. As he’s pummelled into, Hyunjae struggles to keep his head up and settles instead for leaning it back against Juyeon’s shoulder, exposing his pale neck to Juyeon’s searching lips.

Hyunjae’s eyes start rolling into the back of his head as the pleasure overwhelms him, garbling out, “Fuck Juyeon! Please, oh god let me come, _please_ baby, I can’t h-hold it anymore.” Staring at his soaked face, tears rolling down helplessly as Hyunjae cries, Juyeon grunts out, “ _Christ_ okay baby, c’mon, come for me.” The hand gripping Hyunjae’s cock loosens, and then Hyunjae is coming, white spurts spattering the bed and his stomach as Juyeon pumps his hand to help him ride it out. “ _Oh g-god!_ T-thank you, thank you, _thank you_ , fuck, I’m _coming_ Juyeon,” he sobs, back bowing while he trembles with violent convulsions, red cock twitching desperately as his balls empty.

The sight of Hyunjae coming undone and the sound of his lovely gratitude sends Juyeon over the edge, his free hand pressing viciously hard into Hyunjae’s hip, as his thrusting stutters in the midst of the battering rhythm he’s set. “ _Jesus_ , so fucking tight baby, so _pretty_ when you come,” he rasps loudly as he bites down for a third time on the nape of Hyunjae’s neck, cock pumping hot loads of come into Hyunjae’s puffy hole, milked relentlessly by the frenetic pulsing of his channel.

The two of them collapse onto Hyunjae’s front, and Juyeon rolls them so that he isn’t crushing the slighter man with his weight. Hyunjae is hiccuping softly as he comes down, still twitching from the oversensitivity of Juyeon’s enormous member pressing into his prostrate. Juyeon shushes him tenderly, his clean hand coming up to thumb gently at the sweat running down Hyunjae’s forehead, murmuring warm praises into Hyunjae’s hair — _so good, did so good for me, held on so well for me baby, so pretty when you obey, when you come little bird._

When Hyunjae’s shivering finally he stops, he twists his head around so that he can look at Juyeon. The feline eyes he’s grown to adore look back at him, twinkling with so much affection that Hyunjae’s heart squeezes. “Hey,” Juyeon murmurs, nuzzling Hyunjae’s nose with a tired smile.

“Hi,” Hyunjae breathes out, closing his eyes at how unbelievably sweet Juyeon is. They lay in silence for a while, cuddling and basking in each other’s presence when Hyunjae finally asks, “Did you actually jerk off in the bathroom?” Juyeon chuckles sheepishly. “Yeah, it was pretty gross but that picture just got me so riled up,” he says, pressing a loving kiss to the purple bruise on the back of Hyunjae’s neck. Hyunjae hums, pleased, as he snuggles back into the kiss, preening at the compliment.

Juyeon cards his hand through Hyunjae’s hair before resting his angular chin on the blonde’s shoulder. “Come on little bird, I gotta get you cleaned up,” he prompts. Hyunjae whines softly, burrowing deeper into the embrace. Juyeon laughs in delight at how adorable Hyunjae is, but because he knows how unpleasant it’ll feel once their come dries, he squeezes the pale shoulder before saying, “C’mon, I’ll draw a bath for us and you can use the soap that you like so much.” Disgruntled, Hyunjae mumbles his agreement, hissing softly as Juyeon pulls out. 

Immediately, he feels the thick come begin to dribble out between his cheeks, and he hops out of bed with a grimace to go straight to the en suite bathroom. Juyeon follows him with a chuckle, although he can’t help but admire the lovely colours he’s painted on Hyunjae’s skin with a small thrill of possessiveness. The hot water is already running when he enters the bathroom, and Hyunjae is valiantly trying to wipe himself down as best he can when he’s so jelly-limbed.

With the gentlest hands, Juyeon takes the warm washcloth from him and kneels, wiping the come that’s trickled down Hyunjae’s shapely legs, and crooning sympathetically when he dabs at the raw, red hole. “Does it hurt baby?” he murmurs, feeling immensely guilty. Hyunjae smiles before leaning down to give him a sound kiss. “A little, but it was definitely worth it.” He feels like his heart is going to expand out of his ribcage as he watches Juyeon clean him with such aching tenderness and concern shining in his eyes, like Hyunjae is the most precious thing in the world.

The two of them clamber into the bath, and Hyunjae lets Juyeon wash him with the lightest of touches, large hands massaging his scalp with shampoo and lathering smoky sandalwood-scented soap all over his tender skin as he reclines into Juyeon’s embrace. He dozes in and out over the next hour while Juyeon takes care of him, and all the while Juyeon whispers sweet nothings into his ear as his head lolls back onto the older man’s shoulder.

After patting him dry, Juyeon wraps him in a plush robe before carrying him to bed, cooing at the way Hyunjae almost purrs into the crook of Juyeon’s neck. He arranges the exhausted blonde so that he’s tucked into Juyeon’s arms, and Hyunjae finally falls asleep to the scent of sandalwood and the heady feeling of being utterly adored in his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small PSA — Aftercare!Juyeon is now my new favourite Juyeon to write. Thank you, that is all.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings:
> 
> Mention of character death and violence

“How was your hundred day anniversary?” Kevin asks, swinging his satchel full of art supplies jauntily as he walks beside Hyunjae. The blonde smiles, nibbling on his bottom lip. Kevin catches his expression and laughs out loud, “That good?”

Hyunjae jokingly casts his eyes skyward, before saying, “It was really great. We made dinner together and sat on his balcony to watch the sunset.” Kevin coos supportively, sighing at how sweet Juyeon is when Hyunjae tells him about the e-reader loaded full of books he received from his boyfriend as an anniversary gift. He does draw the line however when Hyunjae starts waxing poetic about Juyeon’s “incredible dick that won’t quit rearranging my insides”, gagging convincingly into the street.

“What’s for dinner tonight?” he says loudly, cutting Hyunjae’s Ode to a Glorious Cock off. “Are you going to fry chicken or are you going to fry chicken?”

Hyunjae shoves the petite boy beside him. “You ungrateful brat,” he snipes as Kevin dodges out of the way of another push. “Kidding, kidding! I want the chicken,” Kevin says, laughing. Then he pauses and says morosely, “Actually what I really want is a boyfriend.”

Hyunjae makes a sympathetic noise. “Aw, that blind date didn’t work out?” he asks, placing a comforting arm around Kevin’s shoulder. Kevin shakes his head with a disgusted face. “No, he was so condescending about my degree and he was a slobbery kisser.”

“Eurgh, slobbery kissers are the worst. How do they not know that that’s not okay?” Hyunjae asks, expression mirroring Kevin’s.

“That’s what I’m saying! You’d think some sort of Darwinian evolutionary mechanism would’ve bred it out of existence,” Kevin groans. There’s a beat, before -

“Uh Kev, we’re _gay_. Darwin’s theory of evolution doesn’t really work if we’re not reproducing with women,” Hyunjae slants his eyes at him, amused.

“Surrogates. But also urgh you’re right,” Kevin acquiesces, slinging his own arm around Hyunjae’s waist. He spends the rest of the walk expounding upon all of the blind date’s failures, Hyunjae nodding and gagging dutifully in all the right places. As they near the building however, the two are confronted with the sight of Eric nervously biting his nails out front. He immediately spots them, and comes running.

“Ericie, are you okay?” Hyunjae asks, observing the boy’s pale face with concern.

“Hyung, something happened, we have to leave now,” Eric blurts out looking panicked. Hyunjae and Kevin exchange bewildered looks. “What happened? You’re scaring me Eric,” Hyunjae asks, a mounting fear making his throat close up.

Eric’s eyes dart nervously towards Kevin. “We don’t have time, we have to go-”

“Eric I’m not going anywhere before I know what’s going on. Let me go upstairs first,” he says firmly, shoving his way past the small blonde, dragging Kevin in tow. Eric can only protest and plead with him not to go up the stairs, but he stoutly ignores the younger, the need to know overwhelming everything.

“Oh god,” he stutters out, stopping short in front of his apartment door. There, so deeply embedded in the wood that the door has splintered hideously down the middle, is a knife smeared in red. He feels acrid bile rise in his throat, and his vision starts to swim but still, he opens the door, Kevin’s pained gasp echoing in his ears.

His apartment is completely destroyed. Books are scattered everywhere with pages torn out, picture frames shattered on the ground, and his favourite throw blanket has been torn to shreds. What really makes his stomach lurch, however, is the hideous message left on his previously pristine cream walls.

“I-Is that blood?” Kevin asks faintly beside him, his hand coming to grab Hyunjae’s in a death grip. Hyunjae can barely contemplate the question before his lunch is making a reappearance as he forcibly throws up, tears streaming down his face. Kevin immediately brushes his hair back from his forehead, rubbing soothing circles on his back. “Oh god, babe, shh it’s okay,” he murmurs frantically, even as he looks a little queasy himself. Hyunjae wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, eyes meeting Eric’s terrified brown irises.

“Kevin you need to go,” Hyunjae says suddenly, fear pumping through his veins. Kevin looks startled, on the brink of a protest when the magnitude of Kevin seeing his apartment like this sinks in for Hyunjae. Kevin, who wouldn’t blow a ladybug away for fear that it would get hurt, who doesn’t know anything about the criminal underground not to mention the fact that Hyunjae is dating a mob leader, is bearing witness to a crime committed by one of them. “Kevin, get out! Please you need to go, _please_ , it’s not safe!” Hyunjae shrieks, eyes enormous with horror, swaying on his feet.

Seeing the intense fear written across Hyunjae’s features seems to spark Kevin into moving. He lets go of Hyunjae, giving him a last tight hug before saying, “Call me,” and running out. When he has disappeared down the stairwell, Eric comes to take Hyunjae’s arm. “Hyung, we have to go. If there’s anything you need, grab it now before the rest of the cleaning crew comes,” he says, pushing Hyunjae towards the bedroom.

“C-cleaning crew?” Hyunjae asks blankly as he picks up his most prized possessions.

“Yes, I’ll explain in the car, _please_ hyung, you have to hurry, it’s not safe,” Eric mutters, panicked. In the next second, he seems to have made the executive decision to pack for Hyunjae, and he begins shoving things that look important and sentimental into a duffel. Before he can blink, Hyunjae is being whisked out of the apartment and gently pushed into Eric’s black Mercedes.

“Eric?” he asks with trepidation. The younger blonde glances at him momentarily before turning his eyes back to the road as he steps on the gas pedal. He seems to understand Hyunjae’s question because he sighs heavily, and begins to speak. “We don’t involve law enforcement with things like this — it’s all handled in-house. I’ve already sent pictures of the scene to Juyeon-hyung, but the cleaning crew will take more pictures before they restore everything to its place. No one on the outside can know that anything happened in your apartment, otherwise things will get a lot worse, fast.”

Hyunjae nods slowly, unblinking. “Where are we going now?”

“The house. They’re already setting stuff up in preparation for your arrival, and Juyeon-hyung has placed more guards around the property. One of us will also be around you at all times if you leave the property, and someone will be floating around indoors no matter what as well,” Eric responds. He takes Hyunjae’s hand in his small one, squeezing it gently. “You’ll be okay. Juyeon-hyung won’t let anything happen to you.”

When they roll up to the front of the house having passed the armed guards at the gate, Hyunjae sees Juyeon standing there agitatedly. His hair is completely astray, as if he’s been pulling on it for an hour, and he’s pacing like a caged wolf. When he sees Eric’s car however, he comes running, long legs striding across the cobblestones, and then Hyunjae is being pulled out of the car and into his embrace.

Juyeon grips him like a damned man holding onto his salvation, muttering words of comfort that Hyunjae barely hears - _you’re okay, I’m here, I won’t let anything happen to you_ \- into his ear. Hyunjae doesn’t realise he’s crying until he hears the pitter patter of tears on Juyeon’s suit, and the dam breaks as he crumples into Juyeon’s arms. He doesn’t know how long they stand there, embracing, but his eyes are puffy and drowsy by the time Juyeon carries him into the house, setting him gently into his bed so that he can fall into a fitful sleep.

Outside of the bedroom, Juyeon knuckles are a harsh white as he listens to Eric recount what happened.

“‘The blood of the innocent in exchange for the triumph of the chosen’?” Juyeon snarls. “I will burn Seoul to the _ground_ before they touch Hyunjae.” And, as he stares into the blazing embers in Juyeon’s furious obsidian eyes, Eric finds he believes every word.   
  


~~  
  


Hyunjae wakes up to pitch black. For half a second, he’s disconcerted by the sight of a strange room, until all of the day’s events come rushing back in stark relief. “Oh god,” he mutters, pressing the heels of his palms to his eyes. His mouth feels like it’s full of cotton wool, and his head is pounding. One look at his phone tells him it’s 11 PM — he’s been asleep since he got to the house earlier in the afternoon.

Quietly, he pads out of the room. When he peers over the small balcony overlooking the living room, he sees Juyeon speaking quietly to Chanhee and Sangyeon, numerous stacks of paper and various electronics scattered around the coffee table. Hyunjae takes a moment to observe Juyeon. This is his element, Hyunjae supposes, but his boyfriend looks tense, the corners of his mouth pulled tight and his suit in disarray where it’s been scrunched haphazardly over his forearms and away from his neck. As if feeling eyes on him, Juyeon looks up and starts when he sees Hyunjae staring down at him.

“Little bird? Do you need something?” he asks, walking towards the stairs. Hyunjae shakes his head, “No, I just woke up and came out. Don’t let me disturb you.” Even as he says the words, he desperately hopes Juyeon will come stay with him.

“Sangyeon, thank you for the report, you should get some rest. Chanhee, I want every frame of those security camera footages swept for information,” Juyeon says to the other two in a steely voice before dismissing them. They bow, giving Hyunjae comforting smiles before leaving the room.

“Want me to come up or do you want to sit down here for a bit?” Juyeon asks, his voice softening as he gazes up at Hyunjae’s pallid face. “I’ll come down”, he responds quietly, walking down the grand staircase.

Juyeon nods, pouring him a glass of water from the pitcher which he drinks gratefully. Hyunjae laces his slender fingers with Juyeon’s to pull him to sit on the sofa. As soon as they’re seated, Hyunjae curls into Juyeon’s lap, fisting his hand in the rumpled white shirt as he breathes deeply into the crook of Juyeon’s neck. Gentle hands caress his back, slipping under his thin hoodie to run fingertips along the small ridges of his spine.

“I’m so sorry,” Juyeon says hoarsely into Hyunjae’s hair, his hand momentarily tightening on his back. “I should never have been so careless with your safety.”

Hyunjae pulls back to look at him, and Juyeon’s large hands immediately move to cup his face, thumbing his cheeks so delicately that Hyunjae feels like he’ll fall apart. “I should’ve hidden you away from all of this, or better yet, I should’ve left you alone from the beginning-” Hyunjae stems the flow of the apology falling from Juyeon’s lips with small fingers.

“Stop. You didn’t write that heinous message, and you didn’t force me to do anything I didn’t want to. I’m an adult and I can face the consequences of my own decisions,” he pauses, staring into the sorrowful black eyes that he’s come to love. “I choose you and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”

Juyeon’s eyes flutter shut, almost like he’s in pain, but then he kisses Hyunjae achingly slow, and Hyunjae can taste the regret and apology with each graze of his lips. He sighs into the other’s mouth, letting himself get lost for a moment just so he can escape the day. When they pull apart, Hyunjae tucks his head back into Juyeon’s chest, running his hand over the smooth skin as he dips underneath the collar of the shirt.

“Distract me,” he murmurs, not for the first time in their lives. “Tell me about your tattoo.” His deft fingers quickly undo the top buttons of Juyeon’s shirt to expose the large wolf inked into Juyeon’s pectoral muscle. He traces the outline of the tattoo with his index finger, and Juyeon smiles down at him fondly.

“We all get them after being initiated. You can pick whatever you want as long as you have the family crest,” he says, pointing to the seal bearing the Lee family name surrounded by an intricate design. Hyunjae looks up at Juyeon, “You mean everyone in TBZ has one of these?”

Juyeon nods. “All different ones; Hyunjoon has an arrow running through the crest on his forearm and Jacob has enormous angel wings on his back with the crest on his spine. It’s an exciting thing when you’re young and impressionable to get something permanent that makes you feel like you belong,” Juyeon says pensively.

“When did you get yours?” Hyunjae asks, following the character with his pinky nail.

“Fourteen,” Juyeon responds, eyes fluttering shut at the pleasant feeling of Hyunjae scraping lightly over his skin. Hyunjae pulls back, shocked. “You were that young?” he asks, brow furrowed in concern. Juyeon’s eyes open to look at him before he shrugs.

“I inherited TBZ from my father. I started learning about the business when I was still a child, so the tattoo was just a formality for me,” he says matter of factly, although Hyunjae can hear the slight tightness in his voice when he mentions his father.

“Will you...tell me about him?” he asks tentatively, remembering the way Juyeon had shut down when he asked last time. Juyeon exhales slowly, his eyes suddenly tired and weary.

“My father was...a cold man. He was never obtrusively unkind to me, but I was more an heir than a son to him. At least that’s why I think he acted the way he did,” Juyeon says, large hand stroking Hyunjae’s hair more to comfort for himself than Hyunjae. Hyunjae is about to ask another question when Juyeon interrupts him with a pained expression, “Please. Ask me anything else and I’ll answer, I just don’t want to talk about my parents.”

Hyunjae nods slowly, acquiescing. “Who do you think did... _that_ to my apartment?” he asks hesitantly, leaning back down against Juyeon. The arms around him stiffen. When Juyeon responds, his voice is hard as flint, “I have my suspicions. The rest of the circle are retracing the intruder’s trail, but we’ll find them and I will make them _pay_.”

Hyunjae shivers a little at the venom in Juyeon’s voice, and he reaches up to touch a small hand to the navy haired man’s grinding jawline. The fire in Juyeon’s eyes diminishes, as his attention is brought back to the warm presence on his lap. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Juyeonie,” Hyunjae murmurs worriedly, eyes flickering over Juyeon’s tense face. Juyeon huffs out an incredulous laugh.

“Little bird, I would tear Korea apart brick by brick if it meant you were safe,” he says, pressing his nose into Hyunjae’s temple and inhaling. Hyunjae’s cheeks flush at the ardent declaration, muttering, “Yah, so dramatic,” as he buries his face into the cleft of Juyeon’s chest. Juyeon chuckles, kissing the top of Hyunjae’s head.

“Hey, since when do you call me Juyeonie?” he asks suddenly, a teasing lilt to his voice.

“If Min Miyoung gets to call you Juyeonie, then I do too. You’re _my_ boyfriend,” Hyundai grouses irritably back. “Actually, if anyone gets to call you that, it’s me. She needs to fuck off.” He pauses, a thought dawning upon him. “Wait you don’t think it’s her who sent someone to break into my apartment do you?”

Juyeon’s body underneath him tenses again, and his voice is clipped when he responds. “That’s what I’m thinking. I met with her and her brother a couple weeks ago and they were displeased to say the least that I was actually breaking off the agreement. Felt it was an insult to their family,” Juyeon says through gritted teeth.

Hyunjae sighs. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out,” he says softly before yawning. Immediately Juyeon’s arms pick him up, and in the blink of an eye, Hyunjae is being carried up the stairs, hardly with time to squawk out a protest.

“Where are we going?” he exclaims, small hands gripping the back of Juyeon’s neck.

“To bed,” Juyeon responds promptly. “You need to rest.”

Shyly, given that they’ve slept together numerous times at this point, Hyunjae asks, “Will you sleep with me? In the same bed I mean.” Juyeon quirks an eyebrow at him, one corner of his mouth curling upwards. “And where else would you imagine I sleep, little bird?” he asks dryly. Hyunjae rolls his eyes to cover the warmth blooming in his chest, pressing a sweet peck to Juyeon’s cheek.  
  


~~  
  


Someone is thrashing beside him, waking Hyunjae with a start. He’s disconcerted for a moment before he realises it’s Juyeon, who has released Hyunjae from his grip at some point in the night and is now tossing and turning, a cold sweat covering his handsome face.

“Juyeon, Juyeon, wake up!” Hyunjae whispers, shaking his boyfriend.

“Ngh- _no!_ Please no! Don’t kill her, take me, _take me!_ ” Juyeon shouts, his voice breaking heart-wrenchingly as he begs. There are tears streaming down his cheekbones, and his hands are grabbing the sheets tight enough that Hyunjae hears small ripping sounds from where Juyeon is tearing into them. He does the only thing he can think of, and quickly scrambles across the large bed to wrap his arms and legs around Juyeon’s flailing limbs.

“Juyeonie, it’s me, you’re okay, please, please wake up baby,” he whispers frantically into Juyeon’s ear, gripping his body tight. Juyeon gasps, his eyes suddenly flying open as he flips Hyunjae around, pressing his arm into Hyunjae’s neck viciously. There’s a moment of pure dread when Hyunjae can’t breathe, but then Juyeon’s glazed eyes focus and he’s springing back from Hyunjae, staring at him in abject horror.

“Oh god little bird, are you okay? Fuck I’m so fucking sorry,” he babbles, scooting backwards off of the bed. “I’m gonna go, please don’t be afraid, I-I’m so sorry,” he stammers, almost falling off the bed in his haste to give Hyunjae some space. Hyunjae for his part quickly grabs his wrist, his other hand still massaging his sore neck, “I’m okay, don’t leave, it’s okay!”

Juyeon’s heavy panting slows momentarily as they lock eyes, and finally his shoulders slump as he buries his head in his hands. Hyunjae crawls over to engulf him in an embrace, wrapping his arms around Juyeon’s shoulders while he kneels beside him. “It was just a nightmare baby,” Hyunjae soothes, carding his fingers through Juyeon’s sweaty hair. Juyeon wipes harshly at his eyes, and when he looks up, Hyunjae sees the familiar walls in place.

“I’m fine little bird,” he says detachedly. “You should go back to sleep, I’m going to go get some work done.” He makes to get off the bed but Hyunjae stops him bodily.

“No,” Hyunjae says firmly. “You are going to stop running away from your feelings and tell me what you dreamed about.” Juyeon’s gives him a disbelieving look, moving as if he’s about to push Hyunjae away but Hyunjae is quicker, placing small hands on either side of Juyeon’s chiselled face. “Please, baby, it hurts me to see you like this,” he pleads softly.

Juyeon’s closes his eyes, but grits out, “Let me be, please. I don’t want to talk about it.” And with that, he’s striding out of the bedroom, bare feet tapping hastily down the stairs and walking to his study. Hyunjae huffs out a frustrated breath before following him. He finds Juyeon pouring himself a glass of whiskey, the muscles on his bare chest rippling with how tense he is.

“So you’re just going to drink your problems away then?” Hyunjae asks, irritated. Juyeon eyes him before responding wryly, “It’s what I’ve been doing since before you came along so yeah, kind of.” He downs the glass in one and starts to pour himself a second when Hyunjae smacks his hand sharply.

“What the fuck, little bird?” he snaps. His hand reaches for the crystal tumbler once more but Hyunjae smacks him again, harder. “Stop that,” he hisses, face pulled taut.

“You’re not drinking anymore. One glass of liquid courage is enough,” Hyunjae says staunchly, picking up the tumbler so that Juyeon can’t reach for it again. “You need to talk to me about what’s going on. Is this why you never sleep?” he asks, eyes searching Juyeon’s face.

Juyeon’s upper lip curls into a small snarl as he turns away, incensed. “Yes, is that what you want to hear? That your boyfriend who is a grown man doesn’t sleep at night because he has fucking nightmares about his dead mother?” he bites out viciously.

“O-Oh...” Hyunjae stutters out, eyes as wide as saucers. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks, reaching out to touch Juyeon’s arm.

Juyeon laughs mirthlessly. “What is there to say? She’s dead and I’m not.”

Hyunjae puts the whiskey down and pulls Juyeon to sit beside him on the brown leather sofa facing the enormous window. “Talk to me. Tell me about her,” he murmurs, throwing his legs over Juyeon’s thighs as he leans into his shoulder.

“About how she died?” Juyeon snorts coldly. Hyunjae fixes him with a withering glare. “ _No_ , tell me about what she was like.” Juyeon stares back at him for a beat before sighing heavily.

“My mother was lovely,” he murmurs, closing his eyes. “She was the kindest person in the world, always taking care of others and never losing her temper.” Hyunjae hums sympathetically as he leans back against Juyeon. “Sometimes if I walk past a jasmine tree, it smells so much like her that I feel like I’m ten again. She said jasmine reminded her of home. She wasn’t from Seoul — she grew up in Jinju, which is actually where I was born. My father met her on a business trip there and became obsessed with her, and they married a year later.”

“It sounds like they were very in love,” Hyunjae says softly. Juyeon’s breath shudders momentarily as he grimaces.

“I don’t know about that. I said my father was obsessed with her, not in love with her.” He pauses, considering. “Maybe that’s what love was to him. Either way, she managed to keep some part of him human. He was around more when she was alive, less cold, less calculating. The only happy memories I have of him are when my mother was around to teach him how to be a parent,” Juyeon says bitterly. “When she died, he regressed into his true self.”

Hyunjae bites his lip, mulling over the poignant words spilling from Juyeon’s lips. “How did she pass away?” he probes timidly. Juyeon looks at him, a mess of emotions swirling in his dark eyes before he looks away. “She was murdered by a rival gang. We had snuck out to the park without any guards because I begged her to — it was always more fun when it was just the two of us, y'know? Someone from another Family caught wind of it I guess, and they tried to abduct the two of us. She let herself get caught so that I could run away.”

Juyeon’s voice has grown thick with emotion, a ragged scratch at his throat. “I didn’t want to leave her but she screamed at me to run. We couldn’t find her for days, and I kept looking for her but she never came back,” he says, his voice sounding a thousand miles away. Hyunjae is unable to hold in the gasp, his hand tightening involuntarily in Juyeon’s shirt.

“My father found the perpetrators of course. Made me watch as he tortured them for hours, said it would make me into a man now that my mother wasn’t around to coddle me. When his bloodlust was finally sated, he handed me the gun and told me to pull the trigger.” Tears begin to cascade down Juyeon’s beautiful face as he stares out into the night sky, unblinking. “I was eleven when I first killed a man.”

Hyunjae belatedly realises he’s crying too, his own cheeks wet with tears. When he sniffs, it seems to break Juyeon out of his nightmarish reverie, and he looks down at Hyunjae with such incredible agony in his eyes that Hyunjae almost has to look away. “It should’ve been me who died. I’ve been living on borrowed time, time that my mother sacrificed her life for. I _wish_ it was me who died,” he chokes, a harsh sob wrenching from his chest.

“ _No!_ God, please don’t say that,” Hyunjae cries, fisting his hand in Juyeon’s hair as he presses their foreheads together. Juyeon shushes Hyunjae, kissing his wet cheeks as he nods.

Hoarsely, he says, “Sing to me, little bird. Please.” Hyunjae stares back at him, breathing hard as he fights to maintain his composure.

Slowly, raggedly, he begins to sing, his soft voice cracking every once in a while as it paints a lovely tune.

 _When you kiss me heaven sighs,_  
 _And though I close my eyes,  
_ _I see la vie en rose._

The two of them sit, intertwined like two souls lost in an immense galaxy, staring out the window until the soft pinks and locomotive oranges of the sun rising bathes them in the warmest glow, the dawn of a new day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the update! See you on Sunday for the next one. 
> 
> The song Hyunjae sings at the end is Louis Armstrong’s rendition of La Vie en Rose.


	9. Chapter Nine

“Ow.” Hyunjae’s bones creak stiffly as he looks indignantly down at his body. Apparently his joints are still on strike after being made to sit entangled on a sofa for five hours straight the night before. He’s wandering around the house alone aimlessly while the rest of Juyeon’s inner circle is meeting in the basement. Even though it’s been less than 24 hours since everything fell apart, it feels like it was days ago that he was walking down the street with Kevin at his side- Oh. Kevin.

Hyunjae realises that he completely forgot to text Kevin after he chased him out of the destroyed apartment, and that his best friend, who is already prone to histrionics, is probably having a fit right now. Quickly, he pulls his phone out of his pocket and speed dials Kevin’s number.

“Lee Hyunjae I’m going to kill you,” Kevin hisses murderously after the first ring. Hyunjae is quick to soothe him, “God I’m so sorry I forgot to text Kev, everything just happened so fast and-”

“What’re you doing?” Chanhee’s soft voice shrieks from behind him. Before he can blink, Hyunjae’s phone is being tossed on the ground and crushed under Chanhee’s designer boot heel. Hyunjae gapes at him.

“What the _fuck_ Chanhee?” he asks furiously. “You can’t just-”

“What’s going on?” Juyeon emerges from the staircase with the others in tow, clearly having heard the commotion. Chanhee whips around to face him. “He was calling someone on his own cellphone,” he screeches, rings glinting under the lights as he waves his hands fitfully.

“What? Why would you do that Hyunjae-ya?” Juyeon asks, frowning. “Don’t you know how easy it is to track a phone?” His harsh tone is softened by the arms wrapping worriedly around Hyunjae’s shoulders.

“I-I didn’t know,” he mumbles into Juyeon’s suit. “In my defence though no one told me! And besides, I was just calling Kevin to update him so he wouldn’t freak out.” Juyeon pulls back, the crease between his eyebrows cavernously deep.

“Why would he freak out? It’s only been a day since you left,” he asks slowly. Hyunjae blinks at him. “Well he was with me when I saw my apartment...” he responds, not understanding the significance. Juyeon’s turns his head so fast Hyunjae is surprised he doesn’t get whiplash.

“Eric, why the fuck didn’t you tell me Kevin was with you when Hyunjae saw the apartment?” he growls. Eric’s wide eyes and suddenly ashen face look back at him. “Oh god, it totally slipped my mind and I-” he babbles, stepping back hastily as Juyeon stalks towards him.

Hyunjoon quickly steps in front of the small blonde, his hands raised in a placating manner. “Juyeon-hyung, take it easy, it’s fine. We’ll go pick this Kevin up now and no one will be the wiser,” he says quickly, green eyes piercing. Juyeon stares him down for a second before rumbling low in his chest, “Fine. You go alone, it’ll be more discreet.” Hyunjoon nods, touching Eric’s shoulder comfortingly before flitting away. The rest of the men stand around awkwardly, watching Juyeon like he’s a wolf hunched to attack.

“Hyung, I’m so sorry,” Eric says softly, the regret making his voice break a little. Juyeon, who has his back to him, sighs, pressing long fingers into his nose bridge before turning around. “It’s fine Ericie, I know it was a stressful situation. I’m sorry I lost my temper with you,” he murmurs, going to give Eric a hug which the small blonde reciprocates tightly.

“The rest of you please make arrangements for Kevin’s arrival. Sangyeon and Chanhee, find out everything Kevin does so that the cleaning crew can pick up what he needs later tonight. Sunwoo, take Eric to pick some extra guards for Kevin. Younghoon and Changmin, make sure his room his set up and buy whatever is missing. Jacob you can wait here for their arrival — I expect you’ll be able to calm him down better than the rest of us,” Juyeon dispatches the team efficiently before taking Hyunjae’s hand.

“Little bird, can you come downstairs with me? Chanhee has taken pictures of every unidentified person who has been around your building and classes. I want to see if you recognise any of their faces.” Hyunjae nods, swallowing tightly, and Juyeon notices his pinched expression.

“What is it sweetheart?” he asks softly, touching Hyunjae’s cheek with his knuckles. Hyunjae sighs, squeezing his eyes shut. “It’s just...this is all moving so fast. I didn’t even have time to pack all of my schoolwork, and how am I supposed to attend classes if I’m hiding out here, and I don’t-” Juyeon stems the flow of his rambling with a hand to his lips.

“I already sent people to grab any and all schoolwork you have in your apartment. Chanhee forged some doctors’ notes for you and sent them to your professors so they think you’re on medical leave, so all your finals will be administered online. Anything else you need can be bought,” he says, running his eyes over Hyunjae’s distressed expression. “I know this is a lot, and it’s really scary, but everyone is working hard to get your life back to normal.” 

Hyunjae watches his earnest expression and nods, leaning in to hug Juyeon’s solid frame. “Okay. Let’s go look at some pictures,” he says, threading their fingers together.  
  


~~  
  


Hyunjae hasn’t even gone through half the photographs when he hears a familiar voice screeching upstairs. He puts down the picture he’s holding and runs out, his face brightening into a smile for the first time that day. However, the smile quickly slips off his face when he sees Kevin hog-tied with a black cloth looped over his eyes.

“Let me go! I’ll fucking karate chop your balls off! I’ll sic _rabid pigeons_ on you!” Kevin shrieks as he thrashes around as best he can with his hands and legs tied together. Hyunjoon is regarding him with an amused if not exasperated expression, while Sunwoo and Chanhee are staring alarmed at Kevin’s threats.

“Chanhee are you sure this is the right one? It’s awfully loud,” Sunwoo mutters, eyes wide. When he sees Hyunjae and Juyeon emerge from the staircase, he turns to them. “Hyunjae-hyung, is this is your friend? It’s making so much noise.” Kevin immediately shuts his trap when he hears Sunwoo say Hyunjae’s name.

“Hyunjae-ya? Are you here?” he cries, plaintively. He goes back to screeching, “Let him go, you _asshats!_ And stop calling me ‘it’, I identify as he/him!” Jacob, who sees the recognition in Hyunjae’s eyes as confirmation that they brought the right person quickly goes to untie Kevin’s hands and feet. Just as he gets the rope free, however, Kevin thrashes so violently that Jacob’s legs are kicked out from under him, one hand falling to the floor and the other to Kevin’s hip to steady himself.

“Hands away from the goods, you _deviant_ \- Oh,” Kevin stops short when the fabric falls away from his face, gulping loudly as he stares into Jacob’s warm brown eyes. “Uh...” he gapes, seemingly awestruck by the beautiful man in front of him. What is perhaps funnier to the others in the room, though, is the equally dumbfounded expression on Jacob’s own face as he stares back at the pale boy he has caged between his arms.

“H-hi,” Jacob whispers, his brown eyes filled with shock and some inexplicable other emotion. Kevin’s eyes flit quickly from Jacob’s caramel coloured hair, to his dark lashes, to his pink pouty lips and gulps rather audibly.

“Howdy,” he whispers back. “Y-you-”

Hyunjae finally decides he should intervene, clearing his throat pointedly. Both pairs of eyes whip to his face, and then Kevin’s cheeks are fire engine red when he realises everyone is watching him ogle Jacob. “Hi Kev,” Hyunjae snickers, waving his fingers teasingly.

Jacob clears his throat loudly, hopping off Kevin in flash as he dusts himself down. “Er...I’m gonna g-go check...the plants. In the bathroom. We have new plants in the bathroom,” he stutters, face aflame before running off. Hyunjae faintly hears Juyeon chuckle behind him, but he can’t focus on that because Kevin is suddenly flying into his arms, slender fingers gripping his hair with startling ferocity.

“Oh god Hyunjae-ya, I didn’t know what happened to you, I was so scared,” he mumbles frantically into Hyunjae’s shoulder, squeezing him tightly. Hyunjae returns the embrace, his own hand coming to stroke Kevin’s locks gently. “I’m so sorry Kev, I didn’t mean to drag you into all of this,” he whispers back apologetically. The two best friends stand there for a while, unaware of the others in the room leaving, although Juyeon merely hovers around the doorway, unwilling to leave Hyunjae unattended.

When they pull apart, Hyunjae is surprised to see tears running down Kevin’s face. “What’s this?” he cries softly, wiping the moisture away gently. Kevin just shakes his head in response. “I thought you were dead,” he heaves out in a wet sob.

“Silly, I’d never die and leave you behind when you were still single,” Hyunjae teases through his own sniffles. “Come sit down, I have so much to tell you.” Hyunjae pulls Kevin to sit on the sofa, and the two of them spend the next hour tucked into each other’s arms as Hyunjae explains everything to Kevin — the TBZ, Juyeon’s role in it (which earns the navy-haired man a sharp glare from Kevin), and the suspicions that Juyeon has over the identity of the perpetrator. Throughout it all, Juyeon stands, leaning against the doorway scrolling idly through his phone, alert enough in case of an emergency but outwardly disengaged to give Hyunjae and Kevin some privacy.

When Kevin is done quizzing Hyunjae - and there really is a lot of quizzing - the two of them sink down into the plush sofa, sighing. There’s a beat before -

“So what was that back there with Jacob?” Hyunjae’s voice lilts as he glances slyly at his best friend. Kevin groans loudly, covering his suddenly pink face with his hands.

“What that was is I saw an angel Hyunjae-ya,” Kevin moans dramatically. “It was like time stood still, like the atoms in the air froze so that we could share that incandescent moment forev-”

Juyeon’s loud snort interrupts him.

“Do you have something to say, my criminal lord supreme?” Kevin hisses at him, manicured brows arched menacingly. Juyeon chuckles, making eye contact with Hyunjae who is holding in his own laughter.

“No, it just seems like an awful lot of words to describe what was maybe five seconds long,” he teases, eyes slanting playfully at Kevin’s incensed expression.

Kevin huffs loudly, muttering about unromantic idiots under his breath before turning back to Hyunjae. “Anyway, to conclude, I think I’m in love,” he says matter-of-factly, heaving a pining sigh as he leans his head back. Hyunjae and Juyeon exchange fond looks of amusement at their friend’s smitten demeanour.

The next morning, after a night of plotting, Hyunjae _happens_ to send Kevin to the “pantry” to grab more sugar. The couple snickers quietly to themselves as they watch Kevin trot off, smirking at one another over steaming cups of coffee. After all, it was an innocent mistake to send the boy off to the indoor gym where Jacob exercises every morning, and it was another innocuous omission to neglect mentioning that he works out shirtless.

When Kevin re-emerges ten minutes later with his mouth open and closing like a bewildered goldfish, Hyunjae and Juyeon can’t help but laugh aloud. Their merriment is cut short, however, when Kevin intones blankly, “Wings. Jacob Joonyoung Bae has fucking _wings_ tattooed on his back and I got to see them. _Me_. Kevin Hyungseo Moon.” Juyeon shoots Hyunjae a bewildered look before muttering quietly, “Is he okay?”

In response, Hyunjae just nods, albeit unconvincingly, before gently touching Kevin’s elbow. This seems to snap Kevin out of his glassy eyed stare as he finally turns to look at them directly. ”On the eighth day, God made Jacob Bae, and behold, He said that it was good,” he croaks, eyes as wide as saucers. Without being prompted, Juyeon leaves and returns moments later with a small hand-held fan that he aims at Kevin’s face while Hyunjae dabs at his forehead with a cool washcloth.  
  


~~  
  


Over the month that he’s cooped up in Juyeon’s house, Hyunjae slowly adjusts to his new life. Having Kevin stuck in the same place helps, and some days he’s almost able to forget that he had a life before this one. Still, after weeks of feeling just a little off as he wanders the cold hallways and studies in the various rooms, Hyunjae decides he’s had enough.

“Kev, what do you think about redecorating around here?” he asks one day when they’re alone in one of the studies. Kevin turns to him with a relieved expression, “Oh thank god you noticed it too. I didn’t want to say anything at first but this place is so frigid!” Hyunjae grins happily and agrees to mention brightening the place up to Juyeon.

That night, as they’re laying in bed together, fingers intertwined, he broaches the subject with his boyfriend. “Juyeonie, would you care if Kevin and I did some redecorating at the house?” he asks tentatively, knowing the uneasy relationship Juyeon has with his father’s memory and thus, by proxy, the house he left him. Juyeon smiles, kissing his honey gold locks affectionately, “I wouldn’t mind at all. That actually reminds me, I have something to give you.”

He clambers out of bed to reach into his suit jacket that is hanging behind the door. Hyunjae watches curiously as Juyeon pulls out his wallet, eyes widening when Juyeon’s fingers extend a black metal card towards him.

“Here, this is for all of your expenses,” Juyeon says, looking at Hyunjae expectantly. “I’ve set it to automatically refill with twelve million won every two weeks, although if you ever need more you can just tell me.”

Hyunjae’s face goes pale, and he reels back with alarm. “ _W-what?_ ” he stutters out. Juyeon’s face twists in confusion. “What?” he says back. “Do you think that won’t be enough? I can always set it to refill with more.”

Hyunjae lets out a strangled noise. “N-no, please don’t do that. Please don’t give me money, I don’t want it.” Juyeon frowns, walking towards the bed and sitting by Hyunjae’s feet.

“Sweetheart, what is it? Why do you look so upset?” he murmurs worriedly, warm hand stroking Hyunjae’s leg over the covers.

“I don’t want your money Juyeon,” Hyunjae mutters, starting to get agitated. “I’m not some kept boyfriend or sugar baby, and you offering it to me makes me feel...” He trails off. “Makes you feel what?” Juyeon prompts.

“Makes me feel like you’re buying me,” Hyunjae bites out, angry tears springing to his eyes. Juyeon immediately jumps to encircle Hyunjae in his arms, apologising frantically, “Oh god, little bird, that’s not what I meant by this at all-”

“Then what did you mean? You mean you just want to purchase my affection like some sort of commodity?” Hyunjae snaps, interrupting Juyeon.

Juyeon stares at him, a baffled look on his handsome face. “Jesus, is that what you think of me? I would never-” He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes as he inhales slowly. “Hyunjae-ya, whatever you think my intentions are, you’re wrong. The truth is, the only thing I ever saw my father do right was the way he spoiled my mother. Every time he came home from a business trip he’d bring her something special, and if he ever came home late, there would be flowers waiting on the dining table the next day. There’s very little that I admire in that man, but I did always want to grow up and spoil someone the way he did my mother. I’ve held back in the past with gifts for you, but now that you’re here, I just want to make sure you’re taken care of.”

His eyes are brimming with tender earnestness as he regards the man in his arms, and Hyunjae can feel his hackles falling away. “I...okay. I understand,” he murmurs, shaking his head. “I still feel a bit weird about it but I guess I can buy Kevin some of the supplies he’s missing or something like that.”

Juyeon makes a sheepish face and Hyunjae immediately groans. “You’ve already given Kevin his own card haven’t you?” he asks. Juyeon doesn’t bother responding, just pressed apologetic kisses all over Hyunjae’s face. The blonde grumbles, small hands pushing Juyeon away playfully, “I’m going to make you regret giving me this money, mister.”

Juyeon laughs, rolling them over so that Hyunjae is on top of him. “You can try, little bird,” he teases, nipping Hyunjae’s bottom lip mischievously.  
  


~~  
  


“Han Kwangseok-ssi!” Hyunjae calls, running after the chauffeur who is walking down the driveway. The older man immediately stops and turns to smile pleasantly at the blonde hurrying after him.

“Lee Hyunjae-ssi, it’s so good to see you. What can I do for you?” he asks with a bow. Hyunjae bows back before saying, “I was hoping to go to the supermarket to pick up some things for dinner tonight — are you free to accompany me?”

The chauffeur’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “Oh, certainly. Shall I call the guards to come with us?” Hyunjae shakes his head, winking conspiratorially at the older man. “No, it’s meant to be a surprise for Juyeon and the others, so I don’t want them to notice I’m gone. They’re all in a meeting right now, so if we hurry I think I can get back before they notice!”

Kwangseok chuckles before nodding in compliance. “Very well, we’d better get going. If Lee Juyeon-ssi asks though, I’m going to say you took me hostage.” Hyunjae laughs brightly as he follows the other to the car.

As they’re speeding down the road, Hyunjae and Kwangseok chat casually about one time when Juyeon forced Kwangseok to help him sneak out to go to a party as a teenager. “His father was livid when he got home, but Lee Juyeon-ssi was just glad that he didn’t see the rather large bite mark on his collarbone,” Kwangseok says animatedly.

Hyunjae giggles, imagining a teenage Juyeon sneaking out and partying like a normal adolescent. “What was it like working for Juyeon’s father?” he asks. Kwangseok’s expression turns fond, a sight that surprises Hyunjae.

“Ah, the late Lee master was truly a fine man.” When he sees Hyunjae’s bewildered expression, he adds contemplatively, “He was perhaps not an easy man to please, and he certainly was not the most affectionate, but greatness must come at the expense of common luxuries that you or I might enjoy. The loss of innocence is unfortunately the price that must be paid for glory.”

Hyunjae nods slowly, digesting this information. Although it’s a different perspective on the image that Juyeon painted of his father, he supposes it’s not strange for an employee to be so devoted to his master. “Was Juyeon’s mother nice to work for too?” he asks curiously.

Kwangseok smiles benignly. “She was a lovely woman, very graceful and genteel.” Hyunjae is about to press further when the chauffeur says, “Here we are. I’ll be outside waiting for you.” He smiles as he opens the door for Hyunjae, and Hyunjae returns it, waving happily over his shoulder, his mind filled with thoughts of his grocery list instead of Juyeon’s parents.   
  


~~  
  


It’s remarkable, Juyeon thinks, how the once lonely house haunted by bitter memories fills with light throughout Hyunjae’s stay. Over time, Juyeon watches as Hyunjae’s presence blooms everything he touches, the dim hallways brightened by photographs that Hyunjae prints, rooms slowly brimming over with colourful knick knacks and sentimental mementos. Even his employees seem happier, Juyeon muses; the chefs cook better, the bedrooms are tided with more care, and his inner circle has taken to joshing around the house instead of disappearing to their quarters as soon as they get home.

Hyunjae’s “Family dinners” as he jokingly calls it - a silly pun that makes Juyeon chuckle but Kevin groan - are perhaps the most welcome change. The first night he calls everyone down, they’re all baffled. After all, even having lived together for years now, they seldom eat together if it isn’t a holiday. The inner circle traipses into the rarely used dining room, oohing and aahing appreciatively at the banquet set before them. Hyunjae and Kevin, after promptly kicking Juyeon out of the kitchen at seven that morning, have prepared a veritable feast — there’s all different stone pots of jjigaes, grilled meats, noodles, rice and numerous banchan piled sky high on the long dining table.

Before they can sit down however, the two chefs fix the men with a look. “No guns at the table,” Hyunjae says sternly. “And be warned, I will be able to tell if you’re lying to me.” There’s a collective groan, and Kevin starts walking around with a large tray, collecting all manners of weapons that emerge from their holsters, pockets and, amusingly, the waistband of Sangyeon’s boxer briefs. When he finally gets to Juyeon, Kevin glares as menacingly as he can, but Juyeon is wholly uninterested in being bullied into giving up his gun.

The others watch with interest at the battle of wills, but Kevin ultimately backs down, unused to the terrifying glare that Juyeon levels at him. Luckily, Hyunjae catches on quickly, and interrupts archly, “Juyeonie?”

There’s a stunned silence. And then -

“ _Juyeonie?!_ ” Changmin sputters. The room erupts into howling cackles, Younghoon gripping his boyfriend for support as he laughs and Eric falls off his chair in the middle of a hoot.

“Hyunjae-ya,” Juyeon whines almost petulantly. “Can you not call me that in front of my men?” Hyunjae just smiles teasingly at him, pointing silently at the tray of weapons Kevin is still holding. Juyeon huffs, concealing an adoring smile under knitted eyebrows as he deposits two guns and a knife onto the tray.

At the dinner table, the men argue rowdily over the food, but everyone shuts up when Kevin slaps their hands away, and they stare in disgruntled silence at Kevin filling Jacob’s plate first. They’re less quiet, though, when Chanhee notices Kevin and Jacob holding hands underneath the table, mocking the new couple riotously while Jacob blushes up to the roots of his hair.

Later that evening, when everyone wanders off after thanking Hyunjae and Kevin profusely for the meal, Juyeon shoos his boyfriend out of the kitchen as he cleans the dishes.

“Are you sure you don’t need help?” Hyunjae asks dubiously, staring at the pile of bowls.

“No sweetheart, you’ve done enough. Go hang out,” Juyeon pecks his cheek softly before bumping him away with his hip. Hyunjae laughs merrily as he slips away, throwing a last fond look over his shoulder.

When Juyeon finds him later, he can’t help the smile that unfurls on his face as he observes Hyunjae and Kevin painting together in Kevin’s room - Kevin’s canvas an artful piece while Hyunjae’s is adorably chaotic - and the way Hyunjae throws his head back when he laughs unabashedly makes Juyeon’s chest flutter in the strangest way. From across the room, as if he senses eyes upon him, Hyunjae looks around to see Juyeon staring at him. The smile Juyeon gets, toothy and bright, feels like the first spring sunshine after a long, dark winter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On the eighth day, God created MoonBae and behold, it was good.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings:
> 
> Semi-graphic descriptions of violence

“Hyung, we think we’ve found something.” The tone of Hyunjoon’s voice snaps Juyeon to attention, and he swiftly drops the trade contracts he’s holding. “What? What is it?” he asks, standing up to follow Hyunjoon downstairs.

“Not sure yet, but Chanhee thinks it’s a payment made to a for-hire-service,” the younger replies. In the basement, Juyeon sees Chanhee typing feverishly with Sunwoo leaning over his shoulder, the red-haired boy’s brow furrowed in concentration. When they see Juyeon, they tip their heads in the customary greeting, and Chanhee turns his laptop so that Juyeon can see it.

“I’ve been looking through the Min’s different bank accounts and I found one where the payments don’t go to normal shops or vendors. There was one payment receipt here in May three days before Hyunjae’s apartment was ransacked,” Chanhee points to a considerable sum on a hacked bank record. “I managed to trace the receiver to an offshore account in the Maldives, and through that, I found an address linked to Seoul.”

Juyeon stares at the screen, processing, when suddenly, Chanhee’s computer pings with a notification. He looks to Chanhee for an explanation, but the pink-haired boy frowns. “That’s bizarre, it’s saying the Min’s just sent another payment to that same offshore account a minute ago,” he mutters, typing quickly to pull up the payment. When he does, the air in the room seems to still. They stare at the enormous sum of money, and Hyunjoon swears softly behind Juyeon. That sort of money isn’t just discreet-for-hire money — it’s pay-to-kill money.

“Hyunjoon, Sunwoo, we leave in an hour; get Chanmin and Jacob too. Chanhee you monitor from here. The rest of them will stay here with the guards,” Juyeon’s voice is venomous as he barks out orders. The others nod, and Sunwoo disappears into the weapons vault to assemble what they’ll need.

Upstairs, Juyeon strides into Kevin’s room where he and Hyunjae are lounging casually. When he bursts in, the two of them startle, growing pale when they see the expression on his face. Juyeon swallows tightly, staring at Hyunjae as if he’s trying to memorise his face. “Little bird, we think we’ve found the person who destroyed your apartment. I’m going now with the others,” he says, voice strained.

Hyunjae nods, eyes full of fear. “When will you get back?” he asks, terrified. Juyeon shakes his head and shrugs. “I don’t know. You are not to leave this house though, do you hear me? If you haven’t heard from me in three days, I’ve made arrangements with Sangyeon and he’ll help you leave Seoul.”

Hyunjae’s heart starts thumping quickly, a dry lump rising in his throat. “Stop it,” he snaps. At Juyeon’s surprised expression, he says harshly, “Stop talking like you aren’t coming back. You _will_ come back to me, are we clear?” He stands up to grab Juyeon by the collar, glaring at him. “You will come back to me,” he repeats, desperate and furious.

Juyeon just swallows again, eyes flickering over Hyunjae’s face lovingly. “Okay,” he responds raggedly. He kisses Hyunjae urgently, gripping the back of his head as their lips smash together. For a second, Hyunjae lets himself forget, forget that Juyeon is a dangerous man embarking on a dangerous mission on his behalf. He pretends that he and Juyeon are just two people who met under normal circumstances who will inevitably fall in love and grow old together one day, that love and life is simple for them. All too soon, however, the fantasy is torn from him when Juyeon pulls away, tenderly running a thumb over the wetness gathered on Hyunjae’s bottom lip. “Wait for me little bird.”

And then he’s gone, and Hyunjae can only sink to the floor, heart palpitating wildly as Kevin comes to hug him protectively, whispering words of assurance in his ear.

  
~~  
  


But Juyeon doesn’t come back three days later. The first day he’s late, Hyunjae is full of false bravado, telling anyone who will listen that he’s sure Juyeon is just being tardy. The second day he’s late, Hyunjae is quieter, nibbling on his bottom lip throughout the day but an assured smile plastered on his face. The third day Juyeon is late, Hyunjae’s face is ashen as he wanders the house like a ghost, Kevin trailing worriedly behind him. When Sangyeon brings up the possibility of having to leave Seoul, Hyunjae snaps viciously at him like a caged animal, more out of fright than fury.

It’s past midnight on the fourth day when Hyunjae, who has taken to sleeping on the sofa in the living room so he can hear when the front door opens, suddenly catches the sound of footsteps. His face erupts into a smile, relieved tears springing to his eyes as he runs to the door and throws it open. His smile falters though when he sees Juyeon’s half limp body being supported by Hyunjoon and Changmin, their own faces bloodied and bruised.

“O-Oh god, what happened?” Hyunjae cries, voice cracking with horror. He rushes to grab Juyeon from them, wrapping his arms around the slumped over navy-haired man to bring him to the sofa. His handsome face is cut up and bruised, but Hyunjae can see careful stitching lining the particularly bad cuts. As he’s examining them, Sunwoo and Jacob traipse in carrying an unconscious man between them.

“Who’s that?” he asks shrilly as they make their way downstairs to where Hyunjae knows they have interrogation rooms. Changmin, who’s helping Hyunjoon take off his jacket over his arm encased in a sling, looks over and says, “The hitman. We still need information from him.” Hyunjae vaguely hears Changmin dial Younghoon to prepare for the interrogation, but he’s distracted by the soft groan in his lap.

Juyeon stirs, eyes blinking blearily. “Little bird?” he asks, dazed. “I thought I told you to stay at the house,” he mutters, brow furrowing. Hyunjae is quick to shush him, delicately pressing his thumb into the crease forming between Juyeon’s eyebrows. “I did stay here, you’re just home now. Everything is okay,” he murmurs.

Juyeon sits up, wincing, to look around. “They brought the assassin downstairs?” he asks, trying to peer into the dark room. Hyunjae nods, pushing Juyeon to lean back against the sofa, “Yes, now please rest. You look t-terrible.” Unbidden, hot tears start to spill down his cheeks as the strain of the last week waiting for Juyeon reaches a boiling point. “ _God_ , Juyeonie I was so _f-fucking_ scared,” he sobs, his mind filled with nightmares of Juyeon never returning. It’s Juyeon’s turn to shush him gently now, gathering Hyunjae’s shaky body into his weary arms.

“I know I’m late, I’m so sorry little bird,” he says gently in Hyunjae’s hair. “I’m back now, I’m alive and you’ll be safe when this is all over.” Hyunjae wipes at the tears caught on his eyelashes before pulling back. His eyes travel over Juyeon’s face, soaking in the warmth glowing in his eyes and the lovely curve to his mouth. As he lets himself bask in Juyeon’s presence, Hyunjae’s chest feels alight with fireworks, hot and bright, crackling spectacularly before settling down to a warm, unshakeable certainty. “I love you,” he whispers tenderly, small hand cupping Juyeon’s cheek.

Juyeon stares at him, his mouth hanging open, a mix of emotions flitting across his face. “I...” he pauses, swallowing around the dryness that has collected in his throat. “You are _everything_ to me,” he murmurs back raggedly, pulling Hyunjae into a crushing embrace.

And it’s not the same, but it’s enough for now because Juyeon is finally home and safe in Hyunjae’s arms. Hyunjae burrows into it his boyfriend’s neck, nostrils filling with the scent of gunpowder, metallic blood and Juyeon, as his fingers grip the broad shoulder blades, unable to bear the thought of letting go.   
  


~~

  
When Hyunjae wakes up, it’s to an empty bed, the coolness on the sheets an indication that Juyeon has woken up long before. He quickly jumps out and runs through the seemingly empty house before coming upon Kevin and Jacob whose faces are suspiciously close to one another as Kevin redresses the bandage on Jacob’s forearm, whispering intimately together.

They leap apart when Hyunjae enters the room, faces colouring. Hyunjae raises an eyebrow teasingly, causing Jacob to sputter but Kevin just winks impishly back. “Morning,” Hyunjae drawls. “Not interrupting anything am I?”

“N-no, not at all! Kev was- I mean Kevin-ssi was just offering to h-help redo my bandages,” Jacob fumbles through his words, the blush on his high cheekbones steadily intensifying. Hyunjae chuckles, waving his hand at Jacob’s nervousness.

“I’m just teasing! I was actually wondering if either of you have seen Juyeon?”

The corners of Jacob’s mouth pinch, and he responds tentatively, “Yes, he’s downstairs but-”

Hyunjae doesn’t wait for him to finish his sentence, already hurrying down the hallway with bare feet. At the start of the stairs to the basement he sees Sangyeon standing with his arms crossed, reading something on his phone.

“Hey Sangyeon-hyung, mind if I squeeze past you?” Hyunjae asks, moving closer. Sangyeon doesn’t budge, however, an awkward expression overtaking his face. “Hyunjae, I don’t think it’s a good idea...” he says slowly. Hyunjae frowns at him.

“Why? Are they having a meeting?”

Sangyeon scratches the back of his neck, weighing his next words carefully. “They’re...talking to the hitman.” Hyunjae’s mouth falls open. He’s seen enough mob movies to know what ‘talking’ means, and he feels a bile rising in the back of his throat.

“I see,” he mumbles, jaw flexing tensely. “I still want to go downstairs.” When he sees that Sangyeon is about to protest again, he holds his hand up. “You can’t stop me, Sangyeon. I’m going.”

With that, he resolutely steps past the brown-haired man, and pads down the steps to the basement. In the large room, he sees Changmin and Sunwoo talking quietly as Changmin wipes blood off of Sunwoo’s knuckles - wait, blood?

“What happened?” Hyunjae asks before they notice him. The two of them jump, clearly too engrossed in their conversation to have heard him come in. “What’re you doing here hyung?” Changmin says, nervously looking at one of the doors.

“Why are you bleeding Sunwoo?” Hyunjae asks, ignoring Changmin’s question. Sunwoo’s eyes inadvertently cast down, and Hyunjae follows the movement to see a pair of brass knuckles soaked in red. “Oh _god_ ,” he blurts, hand coming to cover his mouth.

“They’re in there right now, aren’t they?” Hyunjae points shakily at the door Changmin was glancing at. “Juyeon and the others are torturing information out of that man.” Their guilty expressions are all the confirmation he needs before he’s rushing towards the interrogation room and throwing the door open.

The sight before him makes his stomach lurch. Juyeon is standing predatorily over a man whose face is so bloodied it’s hard to see the skin beneath it. One enormous hand grips his jaw punishingly hard, while the other is clenched at his side, rivulets of blood running down his knuckles. Hyunjoon is twirling a small knife deftly between his fingers, pale eyes fixed upon the hitman at the centre of the room.

They all look up when they hear the door slam open, and although the others’ faces register surprise and horror at Hyunjae being in the room, Juyeon’s dark eyes seem blank, entirely devoid of emotion. Before Hyunjae can speak, the man in the chair lets out a gurgling laugh, spitting out a tooth as he does so.

“So this is your precious little bird, Lee Juyeon,” he cackles. There’s a resounding crack as Juyeon yanks the assassin’s head back to face him, hissing dangerously, “You don’t get to look at him, _vermin_.” Hyunjae watches with mute terror as the hitman winces when Juyeon’s fingers dig into his jaw and neck, leaving purpling bruises in their wake.

“J-Juyeon, stop it,” Hyunjae says shakily. “Stop hurting him!” He’s about to lunge forward to pull at Juyeon’s arm when Eric and Hyunjoon grab him, forcing him back. The assassin laughs again, a hacking mocking laugh that sets Hyunjae’s hairs on end. It seems to snap at Juyeon’s already frayed control, because one hand slams into the man’s throat, squeezing mercilessly as he chokes and gasps.

“Make him stop, _make him stop!_ ” Hyunjae shrieks, thrashing against the iron grip that Hyunjoon and Eric have on him. His cries seem to cut through the fog of violence in Juyeon’s mind because the navy-haired man lets go suddenly, although the incandescent fury in his eyes still burns as violently.

“Hyunjoon,” he barks, and the pale boy immediately calls Sunwoo in to take his place holding Hyunjae, before stalking quickly over to the man. The knife glints under the bright lights as he spins it nonchalantly, before he suddenly strikes downwards, the sickening sound of metal tearing through flesh and bone echoing in the room.

The assassin screams, trying to wrench his hand away, but Hyunjoon holds it there with his knife, grinning ferally at him. “Perhaps you’ll be more amenable to answering Younghoon’s questions now, hm?” Juyeon smirks cruelly down at the assassin, nodding his head at Younghoon.

Younghoon drags a chair to sit in front of the tortured man and sits with a smile. “Let’s try this again, shall we?” he asks pleasantly but with eyes as hard as flint. “Who sent you?”

“The Min’s,” comes the garbled response. Younghoon clicks his tongue as he nods. “And what did they ask you to do exactly?”

An imperceptible emotion flickers across the assassin’s eyes, and he pants in pain before replying, “T-they asked me to trash his apartment first, and then they sent me more money to kill him later. Quick death, two photographs, one for them and one for you.” Hyunjoon’s hand involuntarily tightens on the blade, digging it in further.

A growl rips through Juyeon’s chest and he grabs a handful of the man’s hair and pulls it back so that they’re looking at one another. “Did you ever consider that it would be dangerous to cross me? That it would be dangerous to cross the TBZ?” he snarls.

The man lets out a forced laugh, spitting blood out of the side of his mouth. “ _Fuck you_ , Lee Juyeon. It’s time someone taught you a lesson. Your father'd laugh at you with this little runt at your side,” he gestures as best he can to Hyunjae’s prone form still being held by Sunwoo and Eric.

In a flash, Juyeon has his gun pointed at the man’s head.

Hyunjae, who has been staring at the scene while desperately trying to fight down the bile that surges at the back of his throat, cries out in fear when he sees the gun.

“ _Stop it!_ ” he shouts, thrashing against Eric and Sunwoo again. “Please stop it, don’t kill him! _It’s not worth it!_ ”

The assassin eyes him and laughs his hideous cackle again when he sees the fraction of hesitation in Juyeon’s eyes. “You see? So weak for this useless little innocent. Pathetic,” he spits, grinning viciously at Juyeon.

Juyeon snaps his wrist, slamming the butt of the gun down against the man’s forehead, causing it to split open immediately and the hitman to lose consciousness.

“Juyeonie, _please_ ,” Hyunjae whimpers, and the nickname seems to break the violent reverie as Juyeon turns to look at him.

“Please, Juyeon, I’m asking you, _begging_ you, please don’t kill him,” Hyunjae pleads, tears streaming down his face. But the man looking at him is not the Juyeon he knows — the affectionate, occasionally smug man who leaves him breathless with the quirk of an eyebrow. No, this is Lee Juyeon, the cold-hearted ring leader of the TBZ, his normally twinkling eyes a flat black as he stares at Hyunjae impassively.

“Sorry, little bird, no can do,” he intones, cocking the gun as he speaks.

Hyunjae has one last card to play, a desperate gamble for a desperate man. “Juyeon, please, _please_ let him go — doesn’t what I want mean anything to you?” he begs. Juyeon’s eyes flicker imperceptibly, and Hyunjae feels a bubble of hope well up in his chest when he sees Juyeon open his mouth to reply.

“Nope.” And then - 

_BANG!_

There’s a ringing in his ears, as he stares, transfixed and horrified at the man’s body falling to the floor like a rag doll, blood spilling from him like black tar. It’s only when he tastes salt on his tongue that he realises he’s still crying and the ringing he hears is his own hoarse screaming. Strong hands gather him up gently, cradling his head so as to hide the sight from him as he’s carried away. Dark spots dance before his eyes, and the last thing Hyunjae sees before he faints is Juyeon hovering over the body, watching Death do his work as he cleans his gun with long elegant fingers.   
  


~~  
  


Hyunjae opens his eyes, and the first thing he notices isn’t the dark room or the cold pillow beside him but the crushing emptiness he feels inside. Blinking at the dark ceiling above him, he lets the day’s events wash over him so that he feels like he’s suffocating under the weight of his sorrow. It’s only when he lifts his hand to wipe at the tears that have gathered in his eyes that he realises it’s being held. Hyunjae looks over to see Juyeon kneeling beside the bed, fast asleep, with Hyunjae’s small hand engulfed in his large palm. When he goes to pull his hand away, however, it seems to jostle Juyeon awake. He starts at the sudden movement, eyes opening wide with surprise.

“You’re awake,” he exclaims softly. He goes to stroke a strand of hair away from Hyunjae’s forehead, and Hyunjae can’t help but cringe away from the contact. “Oh,” Juyeon says, eyes shining with hurt as he lets his hand fall to his side.

“I’d like to be alone please,” Hyunjae says quietly, eyes not meeting Juyeon’s. “I can go sleep in one of the guest rooms if you want to stay here.”

Juyeon shakes his head dejectedly. “No, you should stay here, I can go,” he mumbles, voice hoarse. Hyunjae nods, staring down at his lap.

“I...” Juyeon trails off uncertainly. “The situation has been resolved.” He doesn’t mention the fact that they sent the assassin’s butchered body back to the Min’s as a warning, nor does he mention the conspicuous lack of acknowledgment from the siblings that they’d been caught trying to murder Hyunjae. All they received in response was a slip of paper bearing the words, “We present no threat to you and yours.”

Hyunjae nods again, turning his head away from the navy-haired man to look out the window. “I see.” Juyeon stares at him with a pained gaze before letting himself out of the room and Hyunjae lets himself be engulfed by the darkness and the solitude.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! I know things just got a lot heavier, fast, but I hope you guys stick around. See you on Wednesday for the next update!


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little early as a thank you to all of you who left comments last week! I was so touched by how many of you there were who took the time to write a note :’) Hope you all enjoy today’s update!

In the days following the murder of the hitman, Hyunjae finds himself in a veritable waking unconsciousness. Day turns into night in the blink of an eye, and he rarely leaves his room, if only to refill his glass of water and eat a couple bites of plain rice. Kevin has sat with him until dawn a number of times, but when Hyunjae sees the toll that his emotional state has on his best friend, he sends him away. Hyunjae also knows that Juyeon has taken to sitting outside his door all night, knows that the man he loves barely sleeps or eats in favour of standing guard by the bedroom. Still, he can’t find the energy to talk to him, so potent is the depressive despair he finds himself drowning in.

A week after he watched a man get shot in the head, he’s sitting up in bed when there’s a knock on his door. Assuming it’s Kevin who is the only one who comes to pester him these days, he calls reflexively, “Go away Kev.” There’s a small pause before another knock. “It’s not Kevin, Hyunjae-hyung, it’s me, Sunwoo.”

Surprised and confused, Hyunjae mumbles, “O-oh, sorry, come in please.” The red haired boy traipses in, a sympathetic smile already on his face. What catches Hyunjae’s attention, however, is the unfamiliar person who follows him. “This is Ju Haknyeon, my boyfriend, hyung,” Sunwoo says, affectionately slinging his arm around Haknyeon’s waist.

“Hello Lee Hyunjae-ssi,” the boy says softly, bowing. Hyunjae bows his head in response, “Hello Haknyeon-ssi. No need for formalities.”

“Can we sit?” Sunwoo asks and Hyunjae gestures towards the chaise lounge as an invitation. The couple sits, and an almost awkward silence falls upon the room. Hyunjae clears his throat. “What can I do for you?”

Sunwoo and Haknyeon exchange a look, before Haknyeon says, “I was just hoping we could talk. I’ve heard so much about you from Sunwoonie, and I wanted to meet you in person. If now isn’t a good time...”

“No, now is fine,” Hyunjae smiles politely. Another silence. Sunwoo coughs and mutters a clearly rehearsed line, “I have to go attend to some things, please excuse me,” before hurrying out of the room. Hyunjae stares at his retreating back, bemused.

“Hyunjae-ssi,” Haknyeon starts, drawing Hyunjae’s attention back to him. “I actually asked to meet you because Sunwoonie told me a little about what happened last week.” He moves to tentatively sit at the end of the bed and Hyunjae watches him with wide eyes. “I thought you might want talk to someone who isn’t involved in the life,” Haknyeon says with a smile.

“Oh, Sunwoo mentioned that a while ago and it completely slipped my mind,” Hyunjae says, smiling back. “How did you get used to...all of this?” he asks, waving his hand around the room in a vague gesture.

Haknyeon chuckled ruefully. “It took a while to be honest. There were a lot of arguments at first, and I think Sunwoo and I broke up, like, three times in the span of six months.” Hyunjae huffs out a laugh when he hears that, trying to picture the sweet looking boy arguing with hot tempered Sunwoo.

“Yeah, I definitely get that,” he mumbles, scratching the back of his head. “I don’t know how to get over what I saw last week. It’s eating me up inside,” Hyunjae admits, feeling bitterness claw at his chest.

Haknyeon nods slowly in thought. “You know, when we first started dating, I accidentally walked in on Sunwoo beating a man to death. He was an arms supplier that tried to double cross Juyeon, and Sunwoo was sent to punish him.” Hyunjae gapes at the casual tone with which Haknyeon speaks, eyes as wide as saucers.

“You what?” he asks, appalled. “How could you forgive him after seeing that?” Haknyeon meets his shocked gaze with a small smile and a shrug. “I almost didn’t. I didn’t speak to him for months, but at some point, it just hurt too much to not be with him.” He shakes his head as he remembers. “Love is a dichotomous thing. It’s incredibly generous - generous to the person you love, generous with its endless forgiveness - and incredibly selfish. Even though I know logically that my boyfriend does illegal things, it stopped mattering after a while. I found that love boiled down to just me and Sunwoo. Right or wrong sort of just...melted away.”

Hyunjae bites his lip as he listens, eyes troubled. Haknyeon places a gentle hand on his arm and says, “If it makes you feel any better, they’re not bad people in a lot of ways. They do an alarming amount of illegal things, but they’re not bad men. They don’t sell their drugs on the streets where poor people are susceptible to addiction, and they never trade their weapons to dictatorships. Juyeon-hyung actually destroyed an old Family last year because they started running sex trafficking in Seoul. He was so furious that he burned all of their warehouses to the ground.” Haknyeon pauses again. “But I’m not saying any of this so you can pretend that they don’t do illegal things. You won’t last long in this relationship if you lie to yourself...you just have to decide whether love is enough.”

Hyunjae nods, lifting his hand to squeeze Haknyeon’s. “Thank you,” he says gratefully. “You’ve given me a lot to think about.” Haknyeon beams widely at him as he squeezes Hyunjae’s hand back. “I’ll let you rest now,” he says, rising.

As he moves to leave, Hyunjae calls out to him, “Wait, you never told me what you do for a living.” Haknyeon grins like he’s enjoying a private joke before saying, “I work remotely for an organisation in the UK called the Campaign Against Arms Trade. I started working there a couple months before I met Sunwoo. Fate is a funny thing, isn’t it?” He winks cheekily and slips out of the room, leaving Hyunjae with a dumbstruck expression on his face.  
  


~~  
  


It’s dark out when Hyunjae walks out of his bedroom. As he wanders through the silent house, his heart thumps heavily in his chest, but it stops short when he sees Juyeon standing on the balcony in his study, watching the moon as he sips on a glass of whiskey. Hyunjae pads silently over, steeling himself.

“Hey,” he says quietly, pulling the screen door open. Juyeon whips around, mouth open in shock.

“H-hey,” he stutters, eyes roaming fervently over Hyunjae’s face. The two of them stare at each other for a moment, drinking in the other’s presence. “Sunwoo brought Haknyeon to see me the other day,” Hyunjae says to fill the silence.

Juyeon nods slowly. “I know. He asked me if he could.” Hyunjae stares at him for a moment before saying, “You broke your rule. About no innocents on the premises, I mean.”

Juyeon runs a hand through his disheveled hair, his dark eyes looking particularly tired in that moment. “I’ve broken a lot of my rules since I met you, little bird.”

Hyunjae doesn’t respond for a moment, just shuffles his bare feet nervously against the cool tiles of the balcony. “I...” Hyunjae trails off, before taking a deep breath. “I came to tell you I’m leaving.”

Juyeon’s breath hitches, his chest suddenly clenched achingly tight. “What? You’re... _leaving?_ ” he chokes out. “ _Why?_ ”

Hyunjae’s eyes soften, the apology shining in them as he looks as Juyeon’s utterly broken expression. “Juyeonie, you know why. I c-can’t...I can’t be here anymore. Every time I close my eyes, I see his body falling to the floor. I know you did what you had to do, I just...can’t.” He shudders, the image replaying in his head, as tears begin to gather in his eyes.

“Little bird...” Juyeon says, his hand reaching out for Hyunjae’s. “Please, I...isn’t there anything I can do to convince you to stay?” Hyunjae lets out a choked sob, pressing his hands into his mouth to stifle it.

“No, please don’t,” he whispers, tears streaming down his face. “I can’t stay here any longer.”

Juyeon seems to want to say something, his eyes desperately flickering over Hyunjae’s crumpled face, but after a while, he sighs. “I understand,” he says quietly. Slowly, so slowly, he reaches out to Hyunjae, folding him into an embrace. “I can’t bear to see you go, but I want you to be happy darling.”

Hyunjae sobs again, throwing his arms around Juyeon’s neck as he cries openly. “Why isn’t love enough?” His chest physically hurts, his heart feeling like it’s being torn to pieces in his rib cage as he bleeds before Juyeon.

Juyeon’s arms around him tighten, and he responds raggedly, “I don’t know sweetheart. I don’t know.” One large hand comes to grip Hyunjae’s hair, and Hyunjae can feel tears seeping into his shoulder as Juyeon lets them spill unchecked. They stand pressed together for what feels like an age, two souls holding on to each other before they are inevitably ripped apart.

Hyunjae feels Juyeon nose gently into his blonde locks. “Will you sing to me one last time, little bird?” he asks hoarsely. Hyunjae nods, because he could never say no the man who is holding him like he’s the most cherished thing in the universe. As his croaked voice sings the familiar tune, Juyeon sways with Hyunjae in his arms, a last dance for the two lovers.

_When you press me to your heart  
I’m in a world apart  
A world where roses bloom_

_And when you speak angels sing from above  
Everyday words seem to turn into love songs_

Dawn is beginning to break when they finally let go of one another, the soft light bathing them in pale pinks and creamy lavenders. Juyeon trails his finger lovingly down Hyunjae’s wet cheek, catching the tears that still have yet to fall as he cups his hand over the face he adores so much.

“I love you,” he whispers, softly, tenderly. “I’m sorry I couldn’t say it before, and I’m not saying it now so that you’ll stay. I just didn’t want you to leave not knowing.” Hyunjae gives him a watery smile, his own small hands coming to stroke through Juyeon’s inky hair to rest on his cheek.

“I know, Juyeonie. I love you too.”

Twelve hours later, Juyeon walks into his bedroom to find it empty. All of the lovely ornaments and mementos that Hyunjae had filled his house with are gone, along with his and Kevin’s belongings. Juyeon is alone again in the dark house, a lonely man living on borrowed time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, the song Hyunjae sings is Louis Armstrong’s rendition of La Vie en Rose.


	12. Chapter Twelve

The summer that passes is sticky and slow and Hyunjae feels like he’s moving through molasses most days. Although Kevin doesn’t ask much, he can ascertain what happened that fateful day, so he simply holds Hyunjae through the countless sleepless nights that follow.

He graduates. It was expected really, even in between being threatened by the mob and falling in love, and Hyunjae wears a tired smile as he walks across the stage to collect his diploma. His expression brightens a little when he sees Kevin in the crowd holding a garishly bright sign, and he bows as he’s handed his Master’s degree, waving to his classmates who cheer him on. It’s not until after dinner with his parents and Kevin, when he’s about to collapse through his apartment door, exhausted, that he sees it.

Lying on his doorstep is a large bouquet of lilies and edelweiss, their sweet scent permeating the small hallway. With shaky hands, Hyunjae picks up the small cream coloured card attached to the front. In simple black pen, Hyunjae sees Juyeon’s slanted script, “All my love” with a little bird drawn in the corner. Unbidden, tears spring to his eyes as he runs his thumb over the light indentations in the card, tracing over the words lovingly.

When he goes to pick up the bouquet, he’s surprised to see a small box tumble to the side. It’s made of expensive black leather, and it bears a hefty weight in his hand. Heart in his throat, he unclasps the lid, a small gasp escaping his lips when he sees the contents. It’s a watch, classic and incredibly beautiful, with dark brown leather straps and white gold hardware. The inside of the watch face is a deep sapphire, and a flock of tiny birds is carved into a circle around the watch hands.

Hyunjae takes it out with trembling fingers, marvelling at the beauty of it. It’s only when he turns it over, however, that the tears start to pour down his cheeks. Inscribed in the back, Juyeon has commissioned the words, “For you who made time so beautiful” and the date of Hyunjae’s graduation. The flowing script feels like it’s being burned into his chest, imprinted alongside the love that never faded away.

Hyunjae’s muffled sobs echo in the hallway, and he’s grateful that the undergraduate students have finished school already so that there’s no chance Eric will find him like this. Reverently, he clasps the watch around his wrist, touching the face of it with light fingertips before slipping into his apartment. For the first time in months Hyunjae sleeps soundly, the almost silent ticking of his watch lulling him to an elysian landscape of untamed parks and familiar husky laughter.  
  


~~  
  


“Damn it Kev,” Hyunjae mumbles to himself, peering out of the window of the cafe. He was supposed to meet Kevin here fourty minutes ago, but his friend is conspicuously late. They had decided to meet for their last cup of coffee as graduate students before leaving campus, and Kevin promised that he wouldn’t be late in spite of coming straight from a date with Jacob.

He huffs, pulling out his phone irritably to send a fifth text to Kevin asking where he is. The unsurprising lack of response makes Hyunjae sigh as he rolls his eyes. This was Kevin’s idea in the first place, the sentimental sap, to toast their student selves goodbye before they moved to the main part of the city together in a week. He’s just about to get up to leave when he sees a familiar black Jaguar pull up beside the road.

Heart suddenly constricting, he leaps out of his chair to hurry out, an inadvertent smile already blooming on his face. His expression falls swiftly, however, when he sees Han Kwangseok get out of the car instead of Juyeon.

“Oh...hello Han Kwangseok-ssi,” he says politely, bowing. Hyunjae hasn’t seen the older chauffeur since he drove him and Kevin home the last day. Although Kwangseok had been completely sympathetic and even handed Hyunjae tissues when he began to cry, he can’t help but feel the twinge of disappointment when he realises it isn’t Juyeon emerging from the car.

The chauffeur bows hurriedly to Hyunjae, “Lee Hyunjae-ssi.” He looks like he’s about to say something, and the nervous glint in his eyes makes Hyunjae’s blood run cold.

“W-what is it? Is everything okay?” Hyunjae asks quickly, heart in his throat. The driver shakes his head, fingers twitching.

“Lee Juyeon-ssi...he’s hurt. He didn’t want me to come but there was a fight with another Family and-” he can barely finish before Hyunjae is leaping into the car.

“Oh god we have to go, please _drive!_ ” Hyunjae cries, terrified. He buckles himself in quickly as Kwangseok sits down, immediately pressing his foot on the gas.

As they’re speeding through the city, Hyunjae can feel his hands get clammy, and he gnaws at his lip until it hurts. _Please be okay, please be okay,_ he mutters under his breath. His mind is running amok with images of Juyeon’s body lying prone, cold and pale, or bloodied and beaten up. It’s not until much later that he realises they’re not on the road to the house.

“Han Kwangseok-ssi, where are we going?” he asks, eyes looking around for familiar landmarks. The driver smiles reassuringly at him, “The hospital. Lee Sangyeon-ssi drove Lee Juyeon-ssi there while I came to get you.”

Hyunjae swallows tightly, shivering. As the car winds it way through Seoul, getting closer and closer to the outskirts, a cold feeling settles in his stomach. The sun is setting, casting a violent red glow over the streets that steadily get less populated.

“Han Kwangseok-ssi,” Hyunjae starts, before being interrupted.

“Almost there, Lee Hyunjae-ssi,” the chauffeur says, his hands relaxed against the wheel of the car. When they pull up to an abandoned looking warehouse, Hyunjae’s breathing quickens as his heart starts to hammer in his rib cage.

“What’s going on?” he bites out, trying to steel his voice against the terror that has settled in his chest.

“Lee Hyunjae-ssi, please don’t get worked up. Follow me,” Kwangseok steps out of the car, and walks around to open Hyunjae’s door for him. He throws the chauffeur a mistrustful look but hurries quickly behind him as he goes to enter the warehouse, an acrid scent of petrol filling his nostrils.

The sight before him makes his blood run cold. There, standing barely conscious with their faces completely torn up and limbs tied, are Juyeon and Kevin, their necks bound by thick brown ropes. Hyunjae stares in mute horror as his eyes follow the intricate system of pulleys that his two most important people are tied to. Each rope is attached to an enormous cement block being held aloft, and Hyunjae muffles a pained gasp when he realises that if the ropes holding the blocks snap, Kevin and Juyeon will hang to death.

“What the _fuck_ have you done?” he cries, whipping around to stare at Kwangseok wildly. The older man chuckles lowly, his demeanour entirely pleasant, as if the two of them are merely conversing over tea.

“Oh god, Kev, Juyeonie,” Hyunjae sobs, about to rush over to him when Kwangseok’s hand shoots out to grab him firmly by the wrist. The driver tsks, running amused eyes over Hyunjae’s distraught face.

“No no, that won’t do now. There’s a system in place here, Lee Hyunjae-ssi,” he says softly, insidiously. “You see, your time hasn’t quite come yet.”

“Let them go,” Hyunjae snaps, his face wet with desperate tears. “Please, let them go, take me instead.”

Kwangseok laughs, loudly this time. “Silly boy, that’s not what we’re here to do. Don’t you see? I am completely fascinated by you, little thing.” The predatory glint in his eyes belies his innocuous tone. “You’re going to stay here like an obedient innocent and listen to my story. You see, when we first met, I thought you were a little nobody, a temporary plaything for Lee Juyeon-ssi that he would discard shortly. After all, his father had done such a good job in wrangling the weakness out of him as a boy.”

Kwangseok releases his iron grip on Hyunjae’s arm, placing a hand gently on his shoulder instead, and Hyunjae stays, frozen with fear. “Or so I thought. After years of unadulterated triumph, when you came along, everything we had worked so hard for seemed to fall apart. The boy was so unfocused, suddenly so uninterested in the business in favour of spending time with you. A nobody.” Kwangseok cocks his head to the side, studying Hyunjae’s murderous expression.

“You’re _vile_ -” Hyunjae hisses, but the chauffeur continues as if he never spoke.

“I tried to get rid of you at first. I thought that at the first sign of trouble, you would run, so I hired someone to make a little mess at that pedestrian apartment of yours. And yet,” he pauses, mulling over his memories. “You stayed. In spite of it all, you managed to worm your way into Lee Juyeon-ssi’s heart, forcing me to go out and re-hire that man to take care of you permanently.”

Kwangseok sighs heavily, shaking his head. “Ah, but Lee Juyeon-ssi still had some of his father’s tenacity. He managed to find the hire and eliminate him before the job could be done. Still, I thought all would be fine when you ran like the innocent you are away from greatness. He was so ruthless that day, really, it brings a tear to an old man’s eye.” He smiles fondly over at Juyeon’s limp frame.

“But I thought the Min’s-” Hyunjae is interrupted by a condescending click of the tongue.

“Tsk, young people, always so impatient. It was so simple to register a bank account under their names and frame them. Really, after over fourty years of servitude, you think I haven’t learned anything? Regardless, as I was saying, I thought that when you left the house that day, that would be the end of this ridiculous little tryst. But unfortunately, I was _wrong_ ,” Kwangseok hisses out the last word, a vicious fury suddenly filling his dark eyes. “After _everything_ , after all those years of raising that boy to be great, he threw it all away for a silly little innocent. I watched as all of my hard work ran down the drain while he pined away like some fool for you. So many contracts lost, so much territory left undefended. It was _pathetic_.” His curse cracks like a whip in the massive warehouse, echoing.

“Even his father who was obsessed with that ridiculous woman from the countryside shaped up. He took his mantle as the rightful heir to the Lee empire after I had that woman murdered,” he smiles with relish, tongue running over large teeth glinting under the dingy light.

Hyunjae gasps, bile rising in the back of his throat. “Y-you did what?! Oh my _god_...” he chokes out, heart palpitating desperately fast.

Kwangseok shrugs, a modest smile on his face. “Yes, it’s one of my fondest accomplishments. That I managed to pin it on another Family is one thing, but that I managed to unleash the glorious violence in the elder Lee master is truly fine work on my part. The streets of Seoul ran red that day,” he murmurs, savouring the sick memory. He snaps out of it shortly though, turning back to Hyunjae.

“And all of this leads me back to you, dear little innocent. I really rather thought you were a nobody, easy to dispose of, but I realise my initial assessment was sorely incorrect. Lee Juyeon-ssi has proven himself entirely inadequate, but you — I tip my hat to you. To have twisted the leader of an empire around your frail little finger is certainly worthy of admiration,” Kwangseok says, dipping his head respectfully.

“Then what is all of this?” Hyunjae asks hoarsely, face ashen. Kwangseok grins manically at him, sweeping his arm out. “Why this is a tribute to you! I live to serve greatness, and you have proven yourself worthy of my servitude. I present this gift to you, the most powerful gift I could offer — the gift of death.”

“ _W-what?_ ” Hyunjae feels himself getting faint.

“I offer you the gift of death,” Kwangseok repeats. “You have the power to choose which weak man lives and which one dies.”

Hyunjae staggers forward, his insides turning inside out in fear. “Oh god, oh god,” he sobs, wretched cries escaping his chest. “Please let them go, _please_ ,” he cries, gripping Kwangseok’s arm.

Kwangseok shakes his head irritably at him, rolling his eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. You must choose, your friend or your lover.” He stops, thinking. “I suppose if you truly don’t want to, I can kill them both, but that would be an unfortunate waste of a gift Lee Hyunjae-ssi.”

Hyunjae is about to plead desperately again when Juyeon’s hoarse voice echoes out to him.

“Little bird,” he coughs. “Pick Kevin. Save Kevin.”

Hyunjae sobs, tears drenching his face as he shakes his head. “ _God_ , please, I _can’t_ pick, Juyeonie _please_ ,” he cries, falling to the floor.

“Choose Kevin, darling, save him, you can do thi-” A sharp crack reverberates in the air and Hyunjae looks up to see Kwangseok whip Juyeon with the end of his gun. Juyeon’s head lolls forward as he chokes out blood, an ugly gash splitting his forehead.

“Come along now, no interfering,” Kwangseok says snidely, pulling out a piece of cloth. He yanks Juyeon’s head down to bind his mouth, but Hyunjae can still hear the muffled sound of, “Pick Kevin, save him!” around the gag. “Pick, Lee Hyunjae-ssi. You have thirty seconds, or I’ll just kill them both. I am an impatient man, little innocent.” To punctuate his sentence, Kwangseok clicks a revolver, pointing it at Juyeon’s head.

Hyunjae trembles, gasping around his sobs as he stares at Juyeon. The man he loves looks back at him, his dark eyes sparkling with unshed tears and so much love that Hyunjae feels his chest tearing apart. Juyeon nods minutely, encouragingly, and Hyunjae knows what he has to do, who he has to pick. Still, he can’t help the cries that leave his lips as he mouths, “I love you.” Juyeon’s eyes crinkle with a smile, and he blinks meaningfully back, tears spilling like dew drops over his eyelashes.

“K-Kevin. I choose Kevin,” Hyunjae whispers raggedly. Kwangseok grins brightly back.

“ _Excellent_ choice, Lee Hyunjae-ssi. You may go untie him, but my gun is still cocked so no funny business now,” he says pleasantly, indicating for Hyunjae to step forward with the barrel of his revolver.

Hyunjae quickly runs to untie Kevin, his shaking fingers struggling with the knot before it finally breaks loose. He catches Kevin’s unconscious body, dragging him away from Kwangseok. Hyunjae weeps as he turns to watch the old driver straighten out Juyeon’s clothes, as if preparing him for execution.

Juyeon stares back at Hyunjae, uncaring of the hands that sweep over his clothes to dust and straighten. All he can think of is how lovely Hyunjae looks; even as tears stream down his face, even under the terrible dark light, Hyunjae looks heart wrenchingly beautiful. There are so many things he wishes he had time to say, but the gag is tightening around his mouth, and his borrowed time has come to an end. Still, Juyeon hopes that Hyunjae somehow hears his last goodbye, that love’s swan song drowns out Death’s call.

_Hyunjae-ya, don’t cry. I hate it when you do, and I’m too far away now to wipe away your tears. I’ll be too far away soon to take care of you, so you have to take care of yourself from now on. You’re so strong, little bird, you’re the strongest person I know, so I know you’ll be okay._

_Little bird, I’ve been content with the knowledge that I was never meant to live past the age of ten. I know that I’m a man living on borrowed time, time that my mother traded with blood. It seems that time is up, Hyunjae-ya; it’s time to pay penance for all the bad things I’ve done. I have so many regrets, sweetheart, but I will never regret meeting you. You brightened my life like spring sunshine with your honey coloured hair and brilliant smile — you showed a man out of time what it is to love and be loved back, and I can never repay you for that. Thank you always, dear heart._

Hyunjae cries silently as he watches Kwangseok step backwards from Juyeon and raise his arm to aim at the rope that will send the cinderblock hurtling to the ground.

_Hyunjae-ya, I’m scared. Not because I’m scared to die, because it will be like welcoming an old friend I think. I’m scared because you look so broken my darling. I’m scared to leave you behind when you look so sad. Please don’t be, sweetheart. Your smile is the loveliest thing I’ve ever seen. All I’ve ever wanted is to see you smile. I want you to be happy and live a long life, dearest one._

_Please, be well for me little bird._

Juyeon fights against instinct to close his eyes when he sees the gun raise in his peripheral vision. He’s dying, and nothing will stop him from looking upon Hyunjae’s face in his last seconds as a live man.

_BANG!_

The sound of the revolver rings through the air, and then Juyeon’s body is flying upwards, the rope pulled taut against the pale column of his neck. Hyunjae screams in horror, white knuckles gripping Kevin’s body, but Juyeon’s smile is serene around the cloth gag, the eyes that Hyunjae adores so much twinkling with love even as his lungs slowly drain of air. Hyunjae is about to rush forward to try to cut the rope, free him, do anything to prevent the inevitable, when -

 _BOOM!_ An almighty explosion batters through the warehouse, throwing his body back to crack painfully against the ground, and he instinctually curls around Kevin’s pale form when he feels a burning heat lick at his skin. As the fiery inferno engulfs him, the last thing he thinks before he passes out is _Forgive me Kev. Wait for me Juyeon._ He doesn’t have the energy to wonder what had happened, doesn’t feel the strong hands grabbing his arms, pulling him away from the scorching debris that fall like meteors from the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I’m not too sure what to say except sorry for the cliffhanger, please bear with me, and see you next Saturday?


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I realise this is a day early but I wanted to release it as a small gift to all of the deobis reading — we did it guys!! Our boys are going to Kingdom! I couldn’t be more proud. 
> 
> Also, as some of you may have noticed, I’ve taken my works off anon (ironic given my username haha). Feel free to give me a follow if you like and hope you all enjoy the last two chapters!

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Hyunjae’s eyes flicker open groggily, and for a second, he doesn’t know where he is. Then, all of the day’s events come flooding back in painful clarity. Cafe. Han Kwangseok. Kevin. _Juyeon_. Hyunjae lets out a dry sob, his chest achingly tight when he thinks of Juyeon.

But where is Kevin? Hyunjae tries to sit up in a panic, eyes searching around the room for his best friend. “ _Kevin!”_ he screams, terrified. He’s about to scream again when a warm hand touches his arm and a familiar face comes swimming into view.

“Hyunjae, Kevin is fine, he’s asleep in the next bed,” Jacob says soothingly, and true to his word, when Hyunjae turns to his left, there Kevin is, his poor face bandaged up but chest rising and falling steadily. “Oh god, what happened?” Hyunjae whimpers, falling back to the pillow.

He hears the dull scrape of a chair being pulled up, and Jacob’s hand comes to hold his. “What do you remember?” his soft voice asks.

“I-I don’t know, I was supposed to meet Kevin for coffee and then Han Kwangseok showed up- oh god, where is he?” Hyunjae suddenly screeches, his heart rate rising alarmingly fast. Jacob shushes him quickly, pressing a gentle hand into his chest to force him to lay back down.

“Han Kwangseok is dead. Hyunjoon made sure of that.” There’s no small amount of bitterness in his voice as he spits the chauffeurs name.

“O-oh,” Hyunjae mumbles, closing his eyes to stave off the pounding headache that has just begun. “Keep going, Han Kwangseok showed up and then?” Jacob prompts gently.

“He showed up and told me that J-Juyeon was hurt, and we drove to this warehouse, and he had them there tied up and he said he murdered - _Jesus_ -he murdered Juyeon’s mother all those years ago, going on about how Juyeon was so weak, and t-then he made me pick,” Hyunjae’s rambling is cut off as his throat constricts. “H-he made me _pick_ between Kev and J-Juyeon, and I had to - _oh God_ \- I had to pick Kev b-because he’s so _innocent_ and I-” Tears course unchecked down his face as Hyunjae hiccups, and the anguish is so thick he can taste it on his tongue.

Jacob shushes him again, soothing him with a soft touch to his hair. “Okay okay, that’s all I needed to know,” he murmurs gently, stroking his hand through Hyunjae’s locks.

“W-What happened? There was an explosion...how are Kevin and I alive?” Hyunjae asks. Suddenly a balloon of hope expands in his chest. “Is Juyeon...?” he asks, desperate hope lacing through his words.

“I...” Jacob pauses, but his heartbroken expression says it all. Hyunjae feels the hope in his chest erupt, leaving in its wake a barren wasteland. “He didn’t make it,” Jacob says softly. “I...I’m so sorry Hyunjae,” his pretty eyes filled with tears as he stares forlornly at Hyunjae.

“It’s...okay,” Hyunjae grits out, squeezing his eyes shut. “I shouldn’t have hoped to begin with.”

Jacob’s thumb stroked gently over his hand. “We figured out something was wrong maybe an hour after Juyeon was taken. Han Kwangseok had turned off Juyeon’s cell phone so we couldn’t track him that way, but we managed to pick up their trail when they appeared on a security camera on the outskirts of Seoul. We had just snuck into the warehouse when Kwangseok cut that block down and Hyunjoon shot him immediately, but we didn’t realise that he had poured flammable gas all over the building,” Jacob shakes his head mournfully, burying his head in one hand.

“I guess he never really meant for any of you to live, just planned on dying along with all of you after he made you choose. Anyway, the whole place lit up in flames, and the fact that it was all old wood in the warehouse didn’t help. Sangyeon managed to get into the front to pull you guys away, but by the time we realised what was happening, it was too hot for any of us to get in deeper to get Juyeon. Changmin and Hyunjoon got badly burned trying, but there was nothing we could do.”

Hyunjae swallows, tears cascading silently down his face. He grips Jacob’s hand back as he watches the other cry in mourning for the brother he had lost. “I’m so sorry Jacob,” he croaks, their brown eyes meeting. Jacob offers him a watery smile, and is about to reply when suddenly, beside Hyunjae, Kevin stirs.

“C-Cobie?” his soft voice asks hoarsely. Jacob rushes over, hand coming to grab Kevin’s.

“God Kev, I was so scared,” he whispers, pressing their foreheads together. Kevin lets out a weak chuckle, one hand lifting to stroke Jacob’s hair. “S-silly. We still have a hundred day anniversary to celebrate,” he mumbles, closing his eyes to bask in Jacob’s warmth.

Hyunjae sniffs as he stares at the couple, the aching loss in his chest momentarily forgotten when he sees Kevin alive and well in the arms of his boyfriend. The sound alerts Kevin to another presence in the room, and he turns his head sharply to see Hyunjae.

“Hyunjae-ya! I’m so glad you’re okay,” he cries, one hand reaching out. Hyunjae reaches his own out, and even though their beds are too far away for them to touch, the gesture itself fills him with warmth. “Kev, I’m so _so_ happy you’re okay too,” he sniffles through a smile. “I’m so sorry about everything I’ve put you through, I can’t-”

“Stop. You’re my person,” Kevin says, his own eyes filled with tears. “I would do anything for you.” He pauses for a second before asking haltingly, “Where’s Juyeon?”

The way Hyunjae’s face crumples is the only answer he needs, and Kevin lets out a cry of sadness, clambering out of his hospital bed amidst Jacob’s protests to climb into Hyunjae’s. Kevin mumbles, “I’m so sorry, _I’m so sorry_ ,” over and over again into Hyunjae’s hair, as the two friends hold each other in the silent hospital room.  
  


~~  
  


The day after he and Kevin are discharged, they all gather for Juyeon’s funeral. After the wreckage of the warehouse had burned down, Eric had returned to very carefully collect the ashes left behind in order to bury them on the Lee family property.

Hyunjae swallows with difficulty as he steps over the threshold of the house. So many memories assault his mind, both beautiful and terrible, but most of all, the lingering scent of Juyeon makes his heart beat faster. As they walk solemnly across the house to come out onto the enormous back garden, Hyunjae grabs Kevin’s hand tightly for support.

The sun is setting as they come to stand in a circle around a freshly dug grave, casting its gentle glow over the mourners. Hyunjae looks around at those gathered, all of the TBZ impeccably dressed with anguished faces as they prepare to say goodbye to their leader and brother in arms. Hyunjoon, whose face and hands are heavily bandaged, insists on carrying the urn of ashes with Eric. “Thank you all for coming today to say goodbye to Juyeon-hyung,” he says quietly, taking the lid off of the intricate jar.

A soft wind blows just as they begin to pour the ashes into the shallow grave, and there’s a collective gasp as they watch the small pale specs float into the air before disappearing. The small breeze feels like a whisper of laughter, a tender caress, as it passes through their little circle. When the divot has been filled with ashes, Hyunjoon steps forward. His hands tremble violently, so he presses them tightly together, pale face regarding those around him. He takes a handful of soil and drops it over the ashes.

“To my brother.”

Eric replaces him then, his voice thick with tears as he drops his own handful of soil.

“To my friend.”

Everyone takes their turn around the circle to say goodbye.

“To my role mode.”

“To my leader.”

“To the man who saved me.”

Hyunjae steps forward last, his own breath shaky as crystal tears spill down his cheeks.

“To Juyeon.”

The breeze whispers again, rushing through his hair with a sudden gust. When it passes, Hyunjae feels filled with a strange warmth, a calm certainty settling over him. As he watches the grave get covered fully with soil, he sighs deeply. For the man who gave his life to save Kevin’s, for his lover, his confidante, Hyunjae would do his best to go on living. He would live and be happy, for himself and for Juyeon.

After the funeral, Eric approaches him quietly. “Hyung, I wanted you to have this,” he says softly. In his palm is a little satin sachet, and Hyunjae picks it up curiously. “I saved some of the ashes for you. We’re leaving Seoul for a while to regroup, so the house is going to be locked up and you won’t be able to visit Juyeon-hyung. I figured you could bury this somewhere close to you.”

Hyunjae stares at the small blonde boy, his heart unbearably full. “O-oh...” he stutters, closing his fingers around the sachet. “Thank you Ericie.” He clasps the boy in a fierce hug, holding the small frame before untangling to let Eric go.

“Also, we found this on your wrist. I managed to get it running again but the face couldn’t be replaced,” Eric says apologetically, handing Hyunjae the watch Juyeon had given him. Hyunjae’s heart catches in his throat as he looks at the cracked surface, turning the watch over to see the dedication unmarked by the scratches.

“It’s _perfect_ , Ericie,” he whispers, voice thick with emotion.

“I have to go now,” Eric says regretfully. “Be well for him, hyung.” And with that, Eric disappears wearing a sad smile, Hyunjae watching him go with the sachet pressed to his heart, a fond look on his face when he sees Eric slip his hand into Hyunjoon’s as they leave.

Hyunjae takes a final walk around the house, soaking in the last dregs of Juyeon’s presence. The house is as empty as he had left it when he moved out, cold furniture and detached artwork. Still, Hyunjae can’t help the small smile that adorns his face when he sees the little hints of life — the nick on the wall from when Sunwoo had convinced everyone to have a knife throwing contest, the scuff along the floorboards from when he and Kevin had moved easels into one of the studies.

In the bedroom he shared with Juyeon, Hyunjae sits reverently down on the sheets that are still unmade. Slowly, gently, he curls into Juyeon’s side of the bed, tears rapidly soaking the pillowcase as he breathes in Juyeon’s scent. If he closes his eyes, he can almost feel a lingering warmth on the bed in the shape of Juyeon’s body. “Goodbye, Juyeonie,” he whispers, running his fingertips over Juyeon’s pillow. His hand catches on a sharp corner of paper as he slips it under, and a soft gasp escapes him when he pulls it out.

It’s a slightly creased photograph of him and Juyeon, a little worn around the edges but colours beautifully vibrant. Kevin had taken it not long after they’d moved in, and in it, Hyunjae is jokingly twirling Juyeon around on the balcony. Hyunjae can remember that day with stunning clarity, the feeling of the sun on his skin and the taste of orange liqueur on Juyeon’s lips as they danced to his old records. Hyunjae touches Juyeon’s laughing face gently, tears streaming into his smile, before he carefully pockets the picture.

As he is leaving the room, Hyunjae’s ears perk up at the sound of raised voices. Alarmed, he quickly tiptoes closer, nearing the source of the noise which is coming from a small hallway. With a start, Hyunjae realises it’s Kevin and Jacob arguing heatedly.

“-just going to run? Like some sort of coward?” Kevin’s voice is shaky with fury.

“Kev, you know it’s not like that. It was a collective decision to go underground for a while until we regroup. I can’t just leave them behind,” Jacob pleads with Kevin.

From behind the wall, Hyunjae can see Kevin with his arms crossed, the tips of his ears bright red with anger as Jacob tries to cajole him.

“I can’t believe after everything we’ve been through, this is how you’re ending it,” Kevin hisses, pointing a finger accusingly at Jacob. Ending it? Hyunjae’s eyes widen in surprise.

“Stop Kev, please,” Jacob grabs his outstretched hand to pull him into a hug. Kevin struggles against the strong arms but it’s futile, so he sinks into it, tears starting to pour down his face. “I can’t lose you like Hyunjae lost Juyeon, I just can’t. Do you understand how helpless I felt when I realised you had been kidnapped just minutes after we parted? It’s just too dangerous for you if we stay together.”

Kevin pushes Jacob away, freeing himself from the embrace. “ _Fuck you_ ,” he snaps, cheeks wet. He storms off, almost barrelling Hyunjae over when he turns the corner. One look at Hyunjae’s sympathetic eyes sends him into a sobbing fit and Hyunjae quickly engulfs him in a hug, cooing and shushing him. Behind Kevin’s back, he meets Jacob’s pained eyes, giving him a small sympathetic smile.

“Come on Kev,” he murmurs. “Let’s go home.”  
  


~~  
  


Summer falls into autumn swiftly after that, the green leaves giving way to bright oranges and burnt terracottas that Hyunjae admires from his new bedroom window. He and Kevin have moved into the city centre, their apartment small but homey. His job at a child welfare clinic for orphans is admittedly busy, and between his birthday and Kevin’s numerous art shows, it’s almost easy to forget the last year of his life.

He and Kevin often stay up late, huddled together under blankets with hot tea talking about it and sharing the things they’ve learned from their respective therapy sessions. Sometimes it feels like a strangely elaborate dream, or a bizarre movie plot that left too strong of an impression. Although Kevin flatly refuses to talk about Jacob, he happily reminisces about the other boys and Juyeon with Hyunjae until the two of them fall asleep. He lets Hyunjae laugh about the time Changmin scared Sangyeon by dropping onto him from the ceiling, let’s him complain about the number of smelly socks littered around the property that one day the house cleaner was absent. Most of all, however, he lets Hyunjae cry when he tells him the way Juyeon comforted him while they were in captivity, the way he had purposefully antagonised Kwangseok to draw his attention away from Kevin, the way he muttered endlessly about the things he loved about Hyunjae just to distract Kevin from the pain.

Hyunjae makes a point not to forget Juyeon, even though he probably couldn’t if he tried. In numerous ways, he lets the memory of Juyeon infuse his life, like the expensive bath soap he finally buys himself that Juyeon used, or the little bird he signs by his name whenever he leaves notes for Kevin and his coworkers. The sadness of Juyeon’s passing doesn’t erase the reality of their imperfect relationship, doesn’t change the fact that Juyeon did what he did, but the memory of his final moments are a soothing balm to the torment in Hyunjae’s chest. Indeed, Hyunjae increasingly comes to realise just how good Juyeon was that his endless capacity for kindness and compassion weren’t affected by the ugliness of his job. Like so many of the TBZ had said, Juyeon wasn’t a law-abiding man, but he _was_ a good one. With this thought, the hollow grief Hyunjae feels every time he thinks of the navy haired man fades easier with time, leaving only the warm glow of love and affection. He rarely lets himself cry over the memory of the man he lost after the first month, choosing instead to live fully, unabashedly in his honour.

One of the few times Hyunjae does cry, however, is when Juyeon’s birthday comes rolling around. He almost expects to get a text from Eric in spite of the way the TBZ had effectively disappeared from his and Kevin’s lives after the funeral. Still, his phone is noticeably silent that day, and Kevin doesn’t say anything when Hyunjae bundles up in a warm coat to go out to the park where he and Juyeon had their first impromptu date.

As he sits under the familiar tree, whose bark is pallid in hibernation, he lets the winter wind whip at his hair but inside, he feels completely serene. A week after they moved into their new apartment, Hyunjae had come back to the park, even out of the way as it is now that they live in the city, to bury Juyeon’s ashes by the tree they sat under that first spring day. The late summer evening was still and soft he remembers, and Hyunjae lingered for a long while after he covered the shallow dent in the soil, soaking in the sound of birds chirping and children laughing.

Winter has come though and the birds have flown south, but Hyunjae still feels as warm as he did that day. For the first time in a while, he sits back and lets himself mourn Juyeon, carefully tracing his fingertips over the hole in his heart as he drowns in the memories of Juyeon’s touch and scent. “I miss you Juyeonie,” he whispers, letting the howling wind dry his tears.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

It’s spring now, the short winter finally collapsing into brighter days as the tender shoots of flowers and leaves awaken after their slumber. On the first sunny day, Hyunjae packs himself a small basket of lychee, bread and water before setting out for the park. It seems only fitting that he spends the first day of Juyeon’s favourite season with him so he makes the hour long trek back to the park, basket in hand.

When he finally gets to their tree where Juyeon’s ashes are buried, he’s warm from the walk between the train station and the park, gratefully sitting down by the unoccupied trunk to take a sip of water. It’s still a cold day in spite of the sunshine so the park is blissfully empty, and Hyunjae reclines against the bark to take in the tiny buds of flowers that are springing from the branches. As he bites into the lychee, he hums softly to himself with a heart full of Juyeon. The familiar tune is comforting, and Hyunjae sinks into it, letting the soft notes and lovely words wash over him.

_Give your heart and soul to me_   
_And life will always be_   
_La vie en rose._

“You’re awfully underdressed for this weather, little bird.”

Hyunjae’s heart leaps into his throat, and for a wild second he thinks he’s imagined the husky voice that he hears every night in his dreams. He whips around, eyes frantically searching for the source when he sees him.

He looks thinner than he did six months ago as he walks towards Hyunjae, and his dark hair is shorter, black instead of inky blue. Even so, with his teasing eyes and upturned lips, he’s still the handsomest man Hyunjae has ever seen.

“ _Juyeon?_ ” he cries softly, pressing a hand to his collarbone in anguished shock to calm the frantic palpitations of his heart.

“Hello darling,” Juyeon says, his eyes brimming with tenderness. His long legs finally carry him to the base of the tree, and he stretches his hand out coaxingly to Hyunjae.

“Oh god, I-I’m hallucinating, I’ve actually fucking lost it,” Hyunjae babbles, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes to clear the painful mirage. Soft familiar finger tips gently pull his hands away from his face as Juyeon kneels in front of him.

“You’re not, I swear to you, you’re not,” Juyeon murmurs, tears spilling from his dark eyes as he smiles. “It’s me, I’m here.”

Hyunjae stares at him, his own eyes welling over. Suddenly, he’s filled with white hot anger, and he furiously shoves Juyeon away.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he hisses, eyes burning with hot enraged tears. “How _dare_ you make me think you were dead? Do you know how many nights I cried for you? You absolute _fuck_ -” Hyunjae raises his hand as if to shove Juyeon again, but Juyeon catches them, rubbing soothing circles over the backs.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry little bird,” he whispers regretfully. “I’m so sorry,” he repeats as he draws Hyunjae’s shaking body into his embrace, and then Hyunjae’s nostrils are filled with that scent, _his_ scent, and the dam breaks as he weeps desperately into Juyeon’s arms. Long fingers card through his hair, stroking the strands reverently.

“I only just woke up a day ago, and they wouldn’t let me leave until this morning,” Juyeon says into Hyunjae’s crown. Hyunjae looks up at him, face stained with tears but still so beautiful in Juyeon’s eyes that he can’t help but cup his hand to that lovely cheek.

“Who’s ‘they’?” Hyunjae asks quiveringly. Juyeon sighs as he relearns the contours of Hyunjae’s face with his hands, leading Hyunjae’s eyes to flutter shut at the feeling.

“The hospital.” Juyeon gently gathers Hyunjae into his arms so that they’re both sitting again, and he leans against the trunk with Hyunjae clasped in his lap. He takes a deep breath and begins to explain the last half a year of his life. “After the explosion, Hyunjoon and Changmin managed to find a way to get to me. Kwangseok was long dead, but I still had a pulse and they managed to pull me from the wreckage. I had some bad burns, but the real trouble was that I had been asphyxiated for so long that my brain had shut down from lack of oxygen.” He sees Hyunjae’s confused expression and clarifies, “I was in a coma.”

“But why didn’t the others tell me that you were still alive?” Hyunjae exclaims, hands tightening around Juyeon’s collar. Juyeon gives him a dark look before shrugging. “Trust me, I’ve already torn them all a new one for that. I guess they weren’t sure I would ever wake up, and they didn’t want to give you false hope in case. They also didn’t want it getting out that I was alive but vulnerable, since they were worried it would lead to more assassination attempts, which isn’t technically wrong I suppose,” Juyeon concedes irritably.

“Regardless, I woke up yesterday, completely disconcerted and shouting for you. As soon as the doctor cleared me to leave, I came here,” he says, running a hand through Hyunjae’s windswept locks.

Hyunjae frowns, puzzled. “How did you know where I was?”

Juyeon looks meaningfully at him before chuckling, “Chanhee traced your new phone, silly.” Hyunjae blushes, because _of course_ he did — it was ridiculous of him to forget the pink haired boy’s tracking abilities.

“I-I can’t believe you’re really here,” Hyunjae murmurs, pressing small hands to the angular cheekbones he loves so much. Juyeon closes his eyes, revelling in the simple touch. “I’m scared that this is all a dream, and I’ll wake up and have lost you all over again.” Hyunjae chokes on a sob, fresh tears coursing down. “I can’t lose you again Juyeonie, I just can’t,” he cries, burying his head in Juyeon’s neck.

“You won’t sweetheart,” Juyeon soothes, his own voice cracking with emotion. “I’m here, and I’ll never leave again.” He pulls Hyunjae back to look him the eyes. “I love you, little bird,” he says hoarsely.

Hyunjae sobs again, kissing Juyeon fiercely for the first time, and it feels like stars are exploding behind every touch of their lips, the warmth he’d felt earlier replaced by incandescent, white hot elation. Even though he had valiantly tried to stay afloat for Juyeon in the months after his supposed passing, nothing compares to the dazzling, radiant joy that fills every cell of his being now. “I love you, I love you so much Juyeon,” he chants desperately, slim fingers tugging fiercely at black hair.

After they break apart, both panting with swollen mouths, Juyeon runs his thumb tenderly over Hyunjae’s protruding bottom lip. Just then, a glint catches in the corner of his eye, and he looks down to see Hyunjae’s watch.

“Oh,” Juyeon breathes. “You still have it,” he murmurs, his voice filled with wonder. Hyunjae chuckles wetly.

“Of course I do. I haven’t taken it off since Eric returned it to me,” he says, drinking in the sight of Juyeon’s eyes blooming with warmth. Juyeon frowns when he sees the small imperfection across the watch face, tracing his finger over it.

“It’s broken,” he mutters dejectedly. “I’ll get you a new-”

“No!” Hyunjae interrupts, quickly closing his small hand over Juyeon’s larger one. “It’s just right,” he says with a poignant smile. “It will always remind me of how close I was to losing you, and how lucky I am that I didn’t.” Juyeon looks up, dark lashes wet with tears again as he peppers reverent kisses all over Hyunjae’s face, and Hyunjae just _basks_ in the soft glow of love returned.

“Can we go somewhere sweetheart?”Juyeon finally asks softly. “I wasn’t kidding earlier, you really are underdressed,” he pokes, unimpressed, at Hyunjae’s thin wool coat.

Hyunjae chuckles, combing his hand through Juyeon’s hair, “Okay, can we go to yours?” Juyeon nods, pressing lingering kisses to Hyunjae’s eyelids, cheeks and nose before hauling him up.   
  


~~  
  


When they enter Juyeon’s penthouse apartment in the city, Hyunjae is surprised to find not a speck of dust along the furniture. For a man who’s been asleep for six months, Juyeon seems to have kept a remarkably tidy house. He comments as much to Juyeon, who gives him a strange look before saying, “I have maids little bird,” like it’s the the most obvious thing in the world.

Hyunjae gives him a disbelieving look, mouth hanging open. “You...You fucking _capitalist_ ,” he accuses half heartedly, and Juyeon just laughs, bright and loud, because he’s missed Hyunjae’s insults so fucking much. He rolls his eyes playfully, “Yah, brat.”

Hyunjae grins back, walking back to hug Juyeon tightly before saying softly, “ _Your_ brat.” The suddenness with which Juyeon’s eyes go from teasing to reverent almost makes Hyunjae cry again, but Juyeon presses a kiss to the pale expanse of his neck before he can, murmuring, “Mine.”

This seems to trigger a switch in Hyunjae because he gasps softly, fingers tightening in Juyeon’s hair as he arches into his body. “Yours,” he breathes, his eyes fluttering shut when he hears Juyeon purr as he bites gently at the tender skin.

Juyeon pulls back, his dark eyes filled with desire and so much love as he runs them over Hyunjae’s flushed face. “Can I...?” he trails off uncertainly, but Hyunjae nods frantically in response, kissing Juyeon hungrily. “Yes, yes, always,” he whimpers, Juyeon’s answering growl making his cock twitch desperately in his pants.

Juyeon lifts Hyunjae up, not breaking the kiss as he walks them over to his bedroom. Hyunjae doesn’t know if it’s the afternoon sun shining through the floor to ceiling windows or if it’s just him but the room is stiflingly hot when he’s thrown down onto the bed, watching Juyeon stalk towards him with hooded eyes.

He rips Hyunjae’s shirt off and immediately begins pressing open mouthed kisses all over his chest, leaving purpling bruises as he bites and sucks indiscriminately. “Brute,” Hyunjae huffs out through a moan, but his hands in Juyeon’s hair don’t push him away.

Juyeon snickers into his pale skin before biting down particularly hard over his pectoral, “Have to mark what’s mine.” Hyunjae whimpers at that, hips shifting greedily for friction. Juyeon swiftly reaches down to palm the straining bulge, which makes Hyunjae cry out as he bucks into the large hand.

“Fuck, so needy already baby,” Juyeon murmurs, watching Hyunjae thrash. Long fingers deftly undo his pants, and then Hyunjae is shivering softly when his cock is freed as Juyeon tears his boxer briefs down. “Shit, I almost forgot how pretty you are little bird,” Juyeon groans, leaning down to lave more kisses over Hyunjae’s pale thighs.

“P-please, Juyeonie, I need-” Hyunjae’s whining is cut off with a shriek when Juyeon bites down on his thigh, sucking hard as a large hand comes to pinch his nipple. “Oh _fuck!_ ” he cries, as his cock spits out a pale spool of pre-come. “Shh baby, let me take care of you,” Juyeon says into the dark hickey, running a pointy tongue over the bruised skin.

Slowly, achingly, Juyeon traces his fingertips over the outline of Hyunjae’s cock, and Hyunjae can only squeeze his eyes shut and pray that Juyeon does something, anything, to alleviate the almost painful pressure in his balls. His prayers go unanswered as Juyeon spends the next minute pressing feather light kisses along the shaft, dipping his tongue teasingly into the slit, and tracing his nails gently over Hyunjae’s heaving chest.

“Please,” Hyunjae whimpers pitifully, fisting his hands in Juyeon’s expensive sheets and in the next second, Juyeon is sinking his hot mouth down over Hyunjae’s cock, swallowing him down his scorching throat. “ _Christ!_ ” Hyunjae shrieks, his hips canting upwards, one hand coming to grab the dark head between his legs and the other still gripping the sheets.

His cries are muffled when Juyeon reaches an arm up to stuff two fingers into his mouth, and Hyunjae immediately sucks on them lewdly, his wet tongue making an obscene noise as he runs it over them. Juyeon groans in between bobbing his head when he feels that, pulling off momentarily to stare hotly into Hyunjae’s eyes as he laps at the long fingers. Roughly, he pulls them out, unable to bear the sight of Hyunjae’s pretty lips wrapped around his digits any longer. He maintains eye contact with Hyunjae as he slowly sinks his head back down on his flushed red cock and presses one finger insidiously into Hyunjae’s furled back entrance. Hyunjae whines high and loud, throwing his head back as he feels Juyeon begin to pump his finger slowly.

When Juyeon moves up to add a second finger, Hyunjae feels the telltale signs of an orgasm approaching, not helped by the continuous wet pressure of Juyeon’s mouth against his cock. Hyunjae wails loudly, “S-stop baby, I’m gonna come!” trying to pull his cock out of Juyeon’s mouth but one large hand grips his hips to hold him in place. Juyeon’s mouth moves faster against him now, and when he slams his fingers into Hyunjae’s sensitive prostate, Hyunjae _keens_.

“ _Fuck! Nng_ \- it’s too- _hah_ \- much, _please_ , I-I’m gonna-” he sobs, desperately trying to hold it in, to make it last longer, but when Juyeon’s hand suddenly releases his hip to press a finger into his taint, Hyunjae screams. His cock spurts furiously into Juyeon’s mouth, a blinding light behind his eyelids as his back arches. “Oh god _Juyeonie!_ ” he wails, pumping what feels like an endless stream of come down Juyeon’s throat. The long fingers in his back entrance continue to thrust gently to prolong his orgasm, and Hyunjae rides them, moaning with sensitivity.

“So beautiful when you come baby,” Juyeon rasps after he pulls off of Hyunjae’s wet cock, tracing his hip bones tenderly with his mouth. Hyunjae pants, blinking blearily at the man he loves as he tries to regulate his heart rate. He stares for a second at Juyeon’s shiny lips before lunging down to kiss him feverishly, lapping his tongue into Juyeon’s mouth to taste himself. Juyeon groans into the kiss, pulling his fingers out of Hyunjae to grip his hips tightly.

“Why are you still clothed,” Hyunjae growls, hands scrabbling to tear off Juyeon’s shirt. Juyeon chuckles as he lets Hyunjae strip him, the laughter quickly becoming breathy when Hyunjae runs his tongue along his collar bone and pectoral muscles, nipping teasingly along the way. A sharp gasp escapes his lips when Hyunjae bites playfully at his left nipple, quickly soothing the sharpness with his tongue.

“ _S-shit_ baby,” Juyeon groans, hands carding through Hyunjae’s hair as he laves attention over Juyeon’s spectacular torso. Small hands dextrously unbuckle his belt, and pull his slacks off, causing his large cock to slap against his stomach. Hyunjae instantly wraps his fingers around it, pumping firmly down as Juyeon gasps raggedly into his mouth. 

“ _Fuck_ , sweetheart, _easy_ , I’m not gonna be able to fuck you if you keep going like that,” Juyeon groans out, his eyes squeezing shut as he tries to stave off his orgasm. Hyunjae huffs but acquiesces, sitting backward to let Juyeon kick his pants off fully.

“Let me eat you out, pretty bird,” Juyeon murmurs, pushing Hyunjae to lie back down. Hyunjae moans softly as gentle hands push his thighs up, and he hooks his hands under his knees to keep them stationary. Juyeon stares at the slightly loosened pink hole clenching desperately before him, and dives in with a growl. Hyunjae wails as Juyeon eats him out ferociously, grunting and groaning into his wet crack while painting sopping strokes over his entrance. Without warning, Juyeon stuffs his tongue deep into Hyunjae, spearing it with such vigour that Hyunjae is rocked backwards against the bed.

“Oh my _fuck_ , Juyeon, so fucking good baby, _oh!_ ” Hyunjae whines, arms shaking. “You taste so fucking good,” Juyeon grunts as he laps at the twitching hole before stuffing his tongue and finger in, thrusting mercilessly. Hyunjae thrashes, his head whipping left to right as he’s overwrought with sensation, “Christ baby, it’s t-too much, want your cock, _please_ , fuck!”

Juyeon groans back, pulling his tongue out but thrusting two extra fingers in, prepping Hyunjae hurriedly. “Okay sweetheart, almost there I promise,” he soothes. “Can you grab the lube in the drawer?”

Hyunjae nods shakily as Juyeon’s fingers slip out, turning over to get the lube in the bedside table, when he suddenly hears a low hiss and rumbling growl. He turns over, surprised, to see Juyeon’s eyes burning with an animal desire. “ _Jesus fucking Christ_ , what is that on your shoulder?” he snarls, fingers flexing dangerously as his cock jerks, leaking pre-come.

In the haze of arousal, it takes Hyunjae a second to process what Juyeon means. “Wha- oh,” his eyes light up with understanding. A slow smirk teases at his lips as he raises an eyebrow archly at his lover. “You mean this?” He bends, slowly and sensually, presenting his ass to Juyeon before rolling upwards so that he’s on his knees and smiling teasingly over his shoulder at the dark haired man.

“Holy _fuck_ ,” Juyeon grunts, his large hands coming to grip Hyunjae’s hips, dragging him closer. There, on Hyunjae’s pale shoulder blade, is a tattoo of a nightingale in the same dark blue of Juyeon’s hair before the explosion. Its wings are splayed as if in flight, and the bird’s body curls around the symbol for Lee. It’s a riff on the TBZ tattoo that Hyunjae got shortly after moving to the city — the crest isn’t quite the same, but he wanted a piece of Juyeon on his body forever, so Kevin had drawn the nightingale for him to bring to the tattoo parlour. “Christ you’re so fucking _perfect_ ,” Juyeon marvels with a growl, tracing hot fingertips over the outline of his surname.

Hyunjae snickers. “You just like your mark on my body,” he teases, shifting languidly under Juyeon’s touch.

“‘Course I do,” Juyeon responds roughly. “You’re mine.”

Hyunjae hums, rolling his body into Juyeon’s chest. “Show me then,” he says as he leans his head back on Juyeon’s shoulder.

“Show you what, pretty baby?” Juyeon asks, staring down into his eyes with hooded lids.

“Show me what it’s like to belong to you,” Hyunjae murmurs, biting his rosy bottom lip. Juyeon’s intense gaze flickers down to the peek of white teeth digging into that sinful lip and growls, lurching to kiss Hyunjae, one thumb dragging his bottom lip out from under his teeth. Hyunjae gasps pleasurably into Juyeon’s mouth, leaning his weight on the other’s broad shoulders as enormous hands trail up and down his sides.

Suddenly he’s being lifted, and Hyunjae squeals in surprise, but he’s dropped down not a second later in front of the enormous glass windows in Juyeon’s bedroom. The sun is just starting to set, and from Juyeon’s apartment, the entirety of Seoul sprawls before them illuminated in warm pink. Hyunjae barely has a second to admire the view before his plump ass cheeks are suddenly being yanked apart, and Juyeon is stuffing his tongue back into the rosy entrance.

“Oh _Jesus!_ ” he shrieks, immediately pressing backwards into the incredible appendage stroking his hole. A sharp thwack sounds in the room, and Hyunjae’s eyes roll into his head at the delicious sting on his right ass cheek.

“Hold still,” Juyeon grunts into his crack before diving back in. Hyunjae belatedly hears the sound of the lube being opened, and then cold wetness is being poured between his flushed globes, before three fingers are shoved back in, punching him to ecstasy.

“G-god, Juyeonie, please fuck me now, I can’t,” Hyunjae gasps, his knees buckling with the force of Juyeon’s thrusting fingers. Juyeon groans in acquiescence, biting down on the plump cheek a last time before he stands up to lather his own cock that has turned a dark red from arousal. He flips Hyunjae over quickly, picking him up to lift him against the glass, and Hyunjae wraps his slender legs around Juyeon’s tapered waist to angle their hips together.

When Hyunjae feels the blunt head of Juyeon’s cock press into his entrance, he lets out a whining sigh of relief. Knowing that it’s been a while since they’ve had sex, Juyeon tries to go slow so as to not hurt Hyunjae, sliding forward at an agonising pace. Hyunjae huffs impatiently - _he just wants to be stuffed full, now_ \- so before Juyeon can blink, he rams his hips downward to bottom out on Juyeon’s cock. His pleased moan is cut off by the string of curse words Juyeon snarls.

“Fucking Christ - _ngh_ \- shit, baby, you gotta go slow,” Juyeon groans roughly into Hyunjae’s lips, gasping at the incredible heat of Hyunjae’s channel. “You’re so - _fuck_ \- so fucking tight, give me a minute please,” he begs, panting heavily as he tries to reign in the sudden tension in his balls.

Hyunjae grumbles irritably but stills. When Juyeon’s breath returns somewhat to normal, he teasingly clenches around the thick shaft, relishing in the way Juyeon’s hands suddenly grip his hips punishingly tight. “ _Jesus_ , you want it rough don’t you, you brat?” Juyeon grits out.

“ _Yes!_ ” Hyunjae whines pitifully, because then Juyeon’s hips are snapping dangerously fast, slamming into his prostate as he screams. His upper back instantly falls onto the window behind him as he scrambles for purchase on the glass. Luckily, Juyeon surges forward and grips his spine with one hand, pulling slightly to help Hyunjae maintain balance even as Juyeon’s cock is battering through him.

“Fucking hell you look so perfect like this baby, so pretty when you get fucked,” Juyeon grunts between thrusts. High, wailing pants escape Hyunjae’s lips as he’s pounded into, his cock jerking as he approaches the precipice of another orgasm. His channel clenches maddeningly around Juyeon as he whimpers, “S-so good, Juyeonie, your cock feels so good inside me.” His eyes flutter shut as he sobs, tears beginning to leak from his eyes while he drowns in the overwhelming pleasure.

“Open your eyes little bird,” Juyeon grunts. “Let Seoul see how pretty you are when you come for me.” Hyunjae shrieks, suddenly clamping down on Juyeon’s length at the filthy words escaping his beautiful lips, the idea of someone watching Juyeon fuck into him completely intoxicating his senses.

“God baby you like that?” Juyeon growls as he feels Hyunjae get tighter. “Like the idea of them watching you getting fucked on my cock?” Hyunjae sobs loudly, nodding his head, “Y-yes, _yes_ , so full, so close!” Juyeon moans, lifting Hyunjae briefly to bite into his shoulder, right above the tattoo.

“Shit you’re close to coming again for me already? So needy, pretty thing,” he breathes into Hyunjae’s ear. “Go on then, come for me baby, come for me in front of all those people out there,” he snarls, the hand digging into Hyunjae’s hips and dimples releasing to pinch Hyunjae’s nipple ferociously. Hyunjae is helpless to comply, shrieking desperately as his cock erupts watery spurts of come and convulses tiredly, completely wrung out. “God Juyeonie, I - _ngh_ \- fuck, _OH!_ ”

The rapid pulling of Hyunjae’s scorching channel triggers Juyeon’s own orgasm. “ _Fuck_ baby, so fucking hot when you come,” he snarls, his hips stuttering between vicious thrusts. The first heavy pumps of come are shot deep into Hyunjae’s pulsating hole, but Juyeon suddenly pulls out, dropping Hyunjae to the floor and flipping him to push his torso down. Juyeon fucks his fist as he paints Hyunjae’s dimples and back with his release, decorating it with thick pearly spurts, grunting all the while.

Hyunjae whimpers when he feels the hot splatter, his knees buckling with the fatigue of standing up but Juyeon catches him by the hips, supporting his weight. The two of them pant heavily, exhausted from their brutal lovemaking. Juyeon trails his eyes over Hyunjae’s back, a thrill of pleasure darting through him as he stares at all of his marks of possession splayed across his lover’s back.

Slowly, he kneels down, large hands still supporting Hyunjae’s weight. He moans softly as he watches a little drool of come dribble out of Hyunjae’s fucked out hole, and he takes two fingers to scoop it up before gently pushing it back into Hyunjae. The blonde twitches, a soft keen escaping his lips from the touch to his abused entrance. Still, his soft pink cock jumps involuntarily and Juyeon stares at it in fascination. With the lightest touch, he pushes the come back deeper into Hyunjae, watching avidly as Hyunjae’s cock jerks again, rising weakly to half mast.

“Jesus baby, I think you could come again with how sensitive you are,” Juyeon mutters, eyes fixed firmly on Hyunjae’s puffy red hole and rosy wet cock. “Want that? Want me to make you come again?” he croons, running a thumb over the sopping entrance, stroking it firmly.

Hyunjae lets out a gasping sob, the overwhelming sensitivity and pleasure forcing his breath away. “God, Juyeonie, I don’t- _hngh_ \- don’t know if I can,” he whimpers, thighs twitching with every brush over his entrance. His face is red from exertion, and his mouth opens in a silent whine when Juyeon presses a kiss tenderly onto his aching hole.

“Shh sweetheart, I know you can,” Juyeon murmurs, slowly lapping at his own come that is about to drool out again. He licks around the swollen entrance, sucking his own come out as Hyunjae sobs weakly, knees buckling together every couple seconds. Juyeon gently fingers Hyunjae to the edge, careful not to overstimulate his abused prostate while his other hand reaches forward to stroke Hyunjae’s wet cock.

“J-Juyeonie, I don’t think - _mmf_ \- I don’t think I can, _please_ ,” Hyunjae gulps around his tears, hiccuping as he frantically tries to close his legs away from the insistent pressure of Juyeon’s hands and probing tongue.

“Just give me one more pretty baby,” Juyeon murmurs softly. “One more, I know you can darling, so lovely when you come for me sweetheart.” The praise makes Hyunjae seize up, on the brink of an orgasm, when Juyeon leans in to nibble gently around the puffy rim, and Hyunjae just _screams_.

His cock twitches violently one last time, a searingly painful dry orgasm ripping through his body, the flushed member desperately trying to shoot come to no avail. “ _Fuck Juyeonie!_ ” Hyunjae sobs as his knees finally give out, but Juyeon is there to catch him, cradling him into his lap while he rides out his orgasm on the long digit, shuddering against Juyeon’s exhausted frame leaning on the window.

Hyunjae has tears dripping down his face as his body shakes from sensitivity, hiccuping into Juyeon’s shoulder while the other pets his hair. “Such a good boy, so good to me darling, my pretty little bird,” Juyeon coos into his blonde locks, soothing the aftershocks that rack through Hyunjae’s body with a warm hands running up and down his back. When Hyunjae finally stills, his head lolling onto Juyeon’s shoulder, half asleep, Juyeon picks him up to draw a bath for them.

Although his arms and thighs scream in protest, Juyeon valiantly carries Hyunjae into the enormous bathtub, washing his boneless body with soft hands. Hyunjae lays against him, murmuring “I love you” deliriously over and over again, a sentiment which Juyeon returns tenderly, trailing butterfly kisses over Hyunjae’s face as he does so.

When they’re both dry, Juyeon carries Hyunjae back to bed, the city lights illuminating the now dark room. As soon as he’s settled against the pillow, Hyunjae curls into Juyeon’s chest, eyes closed and relishing the feeling of their skin touching after being apart for so long. He feels Juyeon shift beside him, propping himself up on one elbow to look down at Hyunjae.

“Mm?” Hyunjae makes a questioning noise with what little energy he has left.

“How do you not...hate me?” Juyeon asks haltingly. Hyunjae’s eyes fly open at that, his fatigue momentarily forgotten. “I mean...wouldn’t your life have been better without me?” Juyeon continues, his dark eyes troubled.

“Wha- _No_ ,” Hyunjae says incredulously. “What sort of idiotic question is that?”

Juyeon shrugs, expression still clouded over. “I just think I could’ve saved you so much sadness if I wasn’t so selfish sweetheart,” he murmurs, dragging his fingertips over the soft lines of Hyunjae’s face. “You wouldn’t have had to deal with any of the trauma of this last year if I had just let you go.”

Hyunjae frowns, propping himself up. “First of all, I’m a fully functioning adult with agency so you can’t just unanimously decide to ‘let me go’, Juyeonie,” he says pointedly, poking his boyfriend in the chest. His eyes soften as he continues, “Second of all, I would do it all again just to be with you. Even if you n-never woke up from the coma,” he stutters, heart clenching, “those six months would still have been worth it for me.”

“But what about when you left last year?” Juyeon pushes, pained. “I mean, nothing has changed. I’m still who I am and I still do what I do. What’s different?”

Hyunjae looks at him carefully for a moment, weighing his words. “While I think some of your... _methods_ still have room for improvement, last year I didn’t know what it would be like to live in a world where you no longer existed,” he says slowly. “As long as you’ll have me, love is enough,” Hyunjae murmurs, eyes vibrant with feeling.

“But-”

“No more buts, Juyeon,” Hyunjae interrupts him. “How are you going to question fate when we’ve been so lucky to find each other again and again?” Juyeon, who had been staring at Hyunjae while he speaks, sighs, eyes casting a tender gaze at the person beside him.

“You’re right. I’m _so_ fucking lucky,” he says softly, drawing Hyunjae close. He looks down at him, dark pupils shining with love, like Hyunjae matters more than all the stars in the universe. Juyeon presses a soft kiss to Hyunjae’s lips, and Hyunjae closes his eyes at the sheer bliss of being back in Juyeon’s arms.

When they break apart, Juyeon noses into his neck, sniffing deeply. “Mm, I love that you smell like me,” he rumbles, nudging Hyunjae’s skin with a pleased expression on his face.

“It’s like sleeping with an overgrown house cat,” Hyunjae grumbles playfully, even as the hand in Juyeon’s hair pulls him closer. Juyeon chuckles lowly, taking deep exaggerated breaths at Hyunjae’s collar bone.

“You love me,” he teases between inhales.

“I do,” Hyunjae murmurs, eyes aglow. That makes Juyeon look up, an adoring smile on his face. “I love you too,” he says, not for the first nor the last time in their lives.

Hyunjae smiles back before laying his head on the inked chest, hand clasped possessively over Juyeon’s heart. “Mine,” he mumbles sleepily. “Yours,” Juyeon agrees, tightening his long arms around Hyunjae’s slender form. Falling asleep with their legs tangled together feels like coming home.  
  


~~  
  


Everything moves shockingly quickly after that, so quickly, in fact, that Hyunjae finds himself a little peeved at just how little he gets to see Juyeon alone. When he finally calls Kevin the morning after Juyeon finds him again, Kevin is understandably panicked.

The pale boy answers the phone with a shrill, “Where the _fuck_ are you? If you’re dead in a ditch somewhere, I swear to god Hyunjae, I will-”

“Kev, Kev!” Hyunjae interrupts with a laugh. “You’ll never guess what happened.” His smile is blinding as he stares at Juyeon over the phone. “Switch to video call Kev,” he says, eyes twinkling.

Kevin mutters irately as he does so, and when Hyunjae’s face shows up on the screen, he looks suitably unimpressed. “Okay, I see that you’re alive and not in a ditch. The question still stands — where the fuck are you?” Hyunjae takes a deep, giddy breath, before switching the phone around to face Juyeon.

Juyeon waves from across the room as he’s buttoning his shirt, a teasing smile on his face. When Hyunjae doesn’t hear any reaction, however, he turns the phone back around confusedly. “Kev, you still there- Oh.” Kevin is indeed still on the call, but his already porcelain complexion is stark white, and his pretty lips are gaping silently.

“Kev?” Hyunjae asks worriedly.

“Y-you...” Kevin croaks out before coughing to clear his throat. “Hyunjae-ya,” he whispers furtively, alarmed. “This is not healthy babe, you can’t just find a Juyeon look alike to assuage your loneliness. Come home, we can talk about th-”

He’s cut off by Juyeon and Hyunjae’s shared bark of laughter. “Jesus Kev,” Hyunjae cackles. “No, it’s him! It’s really him. I have so much to tell you,” he says, his cheeks hurting from how wide he’s smiling. “Just stay put at home okay? We’ll be back soon.” Hyunjae giggles, hanging up to Kevin’s still dumbfounded expression.

There’s a fresh round of crying when they finally meet up with Kevin, and Juyeon sustains a couple extra bruises from Kevin’s flailing hands as he shrieks, “ _How could you?_ How could you _leave_ like that?” It’s not until Hyunjae hurriedly shoves Juyeon behind him and blurts out an abridged version of events that Kevin calms down. The quiet doesn’t last long though because then he’s sobbing again, throwing himself and Hyunjae and Juyeon as he sniffles into their shoulders.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Kevin mumbles wetly, and Juyeon runs a soothing hand down his back. “Me too Kev,” he says softly, eyes meeting Hyunjae’s over Kevin’s shuddering shoulders.

The rest of the day isn’t less emotional for poor Kevin, and Hyunjae starts to worry that he’s actually going to suffer a small stroke with the way his feelings fluctuate so rapidly. Kevin is understandably furious at the rest of the TBZ for lying to Hyunjae and him, and although he’s refused to even talk about Jacob until now, he angrily shucks on a coat and pushes the couple out of the flat with a spat, “We’re going to pay the boys a little visit.”

When they get to the house, it becomes clear to Hyunjae that the rest of the boys have only just moved back in. Boxes are strewn everywhere, bubble wrap hanging from all corners of the house and no one is in sight. Juyeon’s piercing whistle rectifies that last problem quickly, however, as dark heads come poking out of various rooms as soon as the summons is sounded.

Their faces light up when they spot Hyunjae and Kevin, loud thumping feet battering against the wooden floorboards as they come rushing down. More crying and hugging transpires, the tearful reunion interrupted finally by the sound of Sangyeon sobbing in a shockingly high pitch. The rest of them stare at his screwed up red face as he wails, “I’m sorry, I’m just v-very _happy_ ,” before more spurts of tears leak from his eyes. They all laugh between sniffing, everyone hastily wiping their tears away in embarrassment, but their attention is arrested when they hear a small crash outside.

Hyunjae watches in surprise as Jacob’s lithe body goes flying into a rose bush while Kevin stands in front of him, fuming. The two of them had clearly slipped outside in the midst of the homecoming, and now, from behind the enormous glass doors leading to the back gardens, everyone can see Kevin brandishing a bony finger in Jacob’s face.

Jacob stays sprawled in the bushes, nodding solemnly while Kevin rants and raves. All of a sudden, Kevin stops, his chest heaving with incensed pants, and then he’s diving on top of Jacob, kissing him furiously as the sandy-haired man reciprocates eagerly.

“ _Eurgh_ ,” the watchers collectively groan. “Fucking gross,” Hyunjoon grouses, although he turns delightfully pink when Eric presses a quick kiss to his cheek. He stares at the blonde boy, awestruck, his soft expression interrupted only by Juyeon playfully digging his knuckles into Hyunjoon’s dark hair.

“Piss off,” he snipes, shoving at the dark haired man. “I’ll put you back in a coma if you don’t get your hands off my hair.” The collective laughter and good natured ribbing that follows makes Hyunjae’s chest clench with warmth.

Later, when Hyunjae is snuggled into Juyeon’s arms watching a movie in the enormous living room with the others, he lets his attention wander from the film to the people in the room. He watches affectionately as Kevin picks rose thorns out of Jacob’s finger tips with a remorseful expression while Jacob stares back at him adoringly, chuckles softly when he sees Haknyeon flick popcorn out of Sunwoo’s hair that Changmin has been stealthily balancing, and claps Juyeon’s hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter at Hyunjoon trying to subtly put his arm around Eric’s shoulders. Their family is whole again, and all is well.  
  


~~  
  


Of course, life goes on after that. Hyunjae balances increasing responsibilities at his job while enjoying to the fullest the time he spends with Juyeon and his friends. Juyeon is just as busy, if not more so, with trying to rebuild the TBZ empire after gutting it whole for untrustworthy personnel and eliminating undesirable factions. Altogether, the two of them find it seems like there’s hardly a moment to catch their breath.

Their lives are filled with laughter in the years following, like when Chanhee discovers that Hyunjae has been donating all of the money Juyeon keeps giving him to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, or when Changmin shows up to the house one day with grapefruit coloured hair because Younghoon misread the instructions on the box. Navigating the realities of Juyeon’s job is easier now, especially since he has promised to limit violence when unnecessary, although Hyunjae, Haknyeon and Kevin still have started meeting weekly over tea as a pseudo-support group for partners of wanted criminals. This makes Juyeon, Sunwoo and Jacob roll their eyes, but their derision turns into pouting when they’re banned from picking at the finger sandwiches Haknyeon makes for the meetings.

Naturally, Hyunjae and Juyeon fight occasionally, especially since Hyunjae is a mouthy little thing and Juyeon is a stubborn as an ox. Their arguments often end up with Juyeon storming out of their apartment after being yelled at about this thing or that, but he always comes back five minutes later and kisses Hyunjae’s anger away. A reoccurring argument between the two is whether Juyeon is putting Hyunjae’s life in danger; a couple times a year, Juyeon will talk himself into the idea that leaving would best for Hyunjae — an event that causes Hyunjae a lot of grief early on but that becomes a mild irritation as the years pass by.Love is tricky when the object of your affection is a mob leader, but they make it work because it’s too precious to give up on.

Hyunjae adopts the TBZ boys first, a small ginger kitten second, and a tiny little girl third. Juyeon gets progressively more excited with each adoption, and by the time their daughter is ready to be brought home, Hyunjae has to scold him nightly to come back to bed instead of standing by her crib protectively all evening long. Lee Hyerin has all of the men licking out of the palm of her chubby little hand, and the doting parents have to break up many an argument when her uncles get too raucous with keeping her to themselves. Juyeon is terrified of being a parent at first, but with time, he realises that the cold recesses of his heart carved out by his father have been filled with sunlight and wildflowers with Hyunjae and Hyerin’s names etched onto their petals.

Every night when the two are bathed in darkness, finally back in each other’s arms after a day apart, Hyunjae reminds him, “You’re a good man, Lee Juyeon.” And Juyeon, who holds Hyunjae’s slight frame close to his heart as if to fuse their bodies and souls together, whispers, “If I were a better man, I would’ve let you go.” Their first few years together, he means it, Hyunjae thinks, but in the last seventy, it’s simply a prayer, a small phrase of thanks to the universe that he hasn’t had to yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, for the final time, the song Hyunjae sings is Louis Armstrong’s rendition of La Vie En Rose.
> 
> This is it! The end! Thank you to everyone who left kudos, subscribed, and most of all, who commented. Your words truly mean so much to me.
> 
> Congratulations again to The Boyz and deobis for the spectacular win on RTK. I’m fixing up a new work right now, so hopefully I’ll be able to share that soon. Until then! 
> 
> \- Anon
> 
> P.S. If you want to chat or get updates on my work, come find me on Twitter (link in profile)!


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